The Bikram yoga postures are practiced during a 30-minute schedule in a room that is already heated to 105 degree Fahrenheit.

BIKRAM YOGA POSTURES: A WAY OF LIFE

In fact, the Bikram yoga postures as a discipline is a way of life. One should begin practicing the Bikram yoga postures right from childhood (under proper guidance) particularly because the body remains quite supple at that time.

However, one can also take up the Bikram yoga postures in one’s youth as well as in the middle and also the post-middle ages. Depending on the physical constitution and the diseases that the would-be practitioner might be suffering, the Bikram yoga schedules and the Bikram yoga postures are determined by the guru (expert).

WHAT EXACTLY IS YOGA?

Yoga is a deliberate and conscious attempt to bring about a synthesis of the human body and the mind.

Yoga is the cultural heritage of India. Yoga is a way of life. Regular practice of yogic postures (physical, breathing as well as meditative) ensures the optimum realization of the potential of the yoga practitioner.

The roots of yoga can be traced to hundreds of years. In fact, yogic practices were quite popular in the prehistoric ages of India.

The term ‘Yoga’ is derived from the ancient Indian rich language of Sanskrit where it means ‘union’.

THE EASIEST MEANS TO CHECK BIKRAM YOGA POSTURES

The best part of the Bikram yoga postures is that one can get the instructions and even the step-by-step processes as well as precautions – medical – besides the psychological backup right from one’s home.

The means is the net.

You can simply log on to any of the search engines like mozilla firefox, yahoo, goggle, or any other, and key in the words – Bikram yoga. You will get several pages on the topic.

Search for the best among the top five or do some advanced search and you will have all the details you are looking for. All these, at free of cost!

“America’s obsession with good health and exercise is leading to a boom in yoga. And one person at the forefront of the movement is turning up the heat with his torture chamber approach to the practice. Bikram Choudhury is his name, and all his postures   are all from India… ”

The Bikram approach is all American!

Bikram yoga sweats you pout… and that literally means slogging it (the physical postures within a room that is preheated to 105 degrees.

By sweat, we mean ’sweat’!

Bikram yoga hurts and it hurts! And, by hurting within a heated torture chamber the pain rejuvenates the body and unites the body and the mind.

Bikram has collaborated with universities in California and New York to conduct clinical trials and study the effects of Bikram yoga. The results are positive!

BIKRAM CHOUDHURY: A TRYST WITH DESTINY

Yogiraj Bikram Choudhury along with Rajashree Choudhury – his wife and the five-time winner of all India yoga championships – along with a dedicated team of experienced and accomplished faculty members have made ‘Hot Yoga’ or ‘Bikram Yoga’ a hotly pursued activity.

The birthplace of Bikram Choudhury is Calcutta.  He practiced yoga under the tutelage of the then most renowned physical expert, Bishnu Ghosh. Bikram Choudhury was lucky enough to have been tutored by this younger sibling of Paramahansa Yogananda – one of the few most accomplished yogi practitioners of those times.

Paramahansa Yogananda founded the Los Angeles-based ‘Self-Realization Fellowship’ and also wrote The Autobiography of a Yogi — the best seller till date on yoga.

As a regular student of the Calcutta situated Ghosh’s College of Physical Education, Bikram was strenuously involved in the daily yogic schedules for at least six hours.  Owing to his dedication Bikram, at the age of 13, bagged the National India Yoga Championship award. Bikram swept this award the successive three times. Finally, Bikram called it a day at the competitive level.

The stage was set for Bikram Choudhury when he crossed four summers.
This was the breakthrough for Bikram. It came in 1972.

Bikram was called by the 37th President of the USA, Nixon, to be treated for an ailment that the President was suffering from after a South Pacific tour.
Bikram made Nixon undergo the ‘Hot yoga’ treatment – and he was cured.

Immediately after the recuperation, the President asked, “Are you an Indian black magic magician?”

Bikram’s reply was: No! I’m a yogi!”

That built the bridge!

President Nixon gave an open invitation to Bikram to come and live in the United States!

The American business way is ‘Franchise!’ Now, Bikram Yoga has franchises across the USA.

BIKRAM YOGA: THE MOTTO

Contort till it hurts! – is the motto of Bikram Yoga torture chamber heated to 105 degrees!

Nothing’s easy in life, he says.

“You don’t get anything unless you work hard for it. You must suffer to enjoy the benefits of your hard labor,” explains Bikram.

Hence, Bikram extorts his hundreds of practitioners to stretch their physiques to the optimum to gain flexibility.

This physical elasticity can be brought about only if the practitioner can loosen up the body with the aid of the mind amidst a trying environment!

BIKRAM CHOUDHURY: THE AMERICAN YOGI

Bikram is the American style of yogi!

The innovative part of Bikram is that he understood the traditional philosophy behind yoga, and he “picked up” some significant postures (26 physical movements and two breathing ways) from that glorious tradition.
The founder of the hot yoga cult known as ‘Bikram Yoga’, Bikram Choudhury is the head of the globally spread ‘Yoga College of India’.

BIKRAM YOGA: THE INDIAN-AMERICAN SYNTHESIS

Bikram dovetailed them to the typical materialistic American way of life. He gave the Americans the Bikram yoga means to gain spirituality or mental peace amidst the mad race for money!

Viola! That’s the copyrighted Bikram yoga or ‘Hot yoga’ because it is practiced within a room that’s preheated to 105 degrees or ‘McYoga’ or the yoga that has expanded like the famous McDonald brand!

Above all, Bikram also realized the American way of doing business and opened up franchises all over the prominent cities of America. There are thousands of Bikram yoga students, and more are getting enrolled.

BIKRAM YOGA VERSUS TRADITIONAL YOGA

Bikram yoga is not just meditative and relaxing as traditional yoga is! Absolutely not! America will never be ready for that kind of yoga. But a proper synthesis of the traditional with the modern has evolved the novel means.

BIKRAM YOGA: WHAT IS IT EXACTLY?

The American meditation starts on the outside – pushing the body to the extreme. Body is the medium to bring the body back to the mind and the spirit!

Bikram yoga is all about the perfect marriage of the body and the mind.

BIKRAM YOGA: HEAT IS THE CATALYST

The catalyst is the heat which loosens the body and allows the muscles and the tendons to go further and extend further!

Bikram Yoga is McYoga or the yoga that is spreading everywhere like the popular McDonald brand. “I’m an American yogi”, claims Bikram Choudhury.

For $5000, you can be an ardent trainer of Bikram yoga.

Bikram yoga is the only one in the world, and he owns the copyright.

Bikram yoga is christened after the expert yoga practitioner Bikram Choudhury.

Bikram yoga claims to achieve a balance between the mind and the body of the Bikram yoga practitioner.

WHO IS BIKRAM CHOUDHURY?

Bikram Choudhury is one of the famous personalities that have taken the ethos of yoga beyond the shores of India – the land where yoga originated.
Bikram, now past 50 years of age, has been intelligent enough to repackage yoga as a process that is perfect marriage of the body and the mind. Bikram has dovetailed the age-old Indian meditation-cum-physical
Referring to the American connection, Bikram said: I began as a zero…You people gave me everything!… I bring Calcutta to Beverly Hills.
Among his clients are Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Brooke Shields to mention a few of his following ‘Who’s Who in America’ database.

BIKRAM YOGA IS ‘HOT YOGA’?

Bikram yoga falls under the broader classification of ‘Hot Yoga’ which includes the individualized yogic postures (asanas) that have been designed over the ages by various yoga practitioners.

Bikram yoga or this form of hot yoga is so termed because the 26 yoga postures are performed in a room that is already heated to about 105 degrees Fahrenheit.

The Bikram yogic asanas or poses are designed to deeply stretch the tendons and the muscles.

The heat helps to relax the muscles and provides a deeper stretch than might be ordinarily obtained.

BIKRAM YOGA IS A PART OF HATHA YOGA

Bikram yoga consists of 26 various postures done within a 90-minute Hatha Yoga schedule.

‘Hatha Yoga’ was the innovation of the 15th century Indian sage Yogi Swatmarama. Hatha Yoga unifies the positive and the negative forces of the human system

In fact, all the various forms of yoga including Bikram Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Power Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga owe their origins to ‘Hatha Yoga’.