Robert Love delves into the interesting life of yoga guru Pierre Bernard (born Perry Baker in Leon, Iowa) in his book, The Great Oom.
Bernard was one of yoga’s earliest promoters who went on to become a hypnotist. He performed extreme stunts, such as having pins pushed through his cheeks and earlobes and a hatpin pushed through his tongue- all while in a trance. As a result, he gained a lot of attention from wealthy San Francisco residents, and he achieved a rock-star status among his female followers, which eventually led to charges that he had conned and enticed a young woman.
Ultimately, the charges were dropped and Bernard moved on to the Vanderbilt family and established a yoga center on an old Nyack estate. His yoga center was a success, until the Depression came along.
Bernard went on to use the riches he made from yoga to start a chemical company, an airport, a semi-pro baseball team, and a trained elephant act. When Bernard passed away in 1955, yoga was moving mainstream. Love credits Bernard with changing public perception of yoga from self indulgent exoticism to healthful normalcy, but this colorful, wild tale reminds us that money is America’s true religion.
Tags: hypnotist, Pierre Bernard, Robert Love, The Great Oom, yoga