So what is Bikram Yoga?
Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 hatha yoga postures or asanas done in a specific order over 90 minutes in a room heated to just above body temperature. The series was brought to the US over 30 years ago by Bikram Choudhury, who learned the yoga from his guru Bishnu Gnosh (brother of the famous Paramahansa Yogananda). This series of postures are considered the most medicinal of all the hatha yoga postures and are particularly healing to the American way of life. Americans spend a disproportionate amount of time forward bending, weakening the spin, and have a very difficult time being still. In addition, we love high impact sports and exercise that reduces range of motion in the joints over time. Eventually even every day activities become uncomfortable, even painful, due to the bodies natural degeneration. The Bikram series is so powerful that is has not changed much in over 30 years and can only be taught by Bikram Certified instructors.
What is a Bikram Yoga class like?
Just imagine you are in a cheerful, warm yellow room moving slowly from posture to posture with the encouraging guidance of your certified instructor. Every day the yoga series is the same, but your body feels a little different, helping you to create a strong mind/body connection. Each day you do just as much as your body allows, making progress at your own rate. You are surrounded by every age, body shape and experience level of yogi. You feel welcome and safe. The experienced students are in the front row inspiring you with their mastery of the postures, but the back row is comfortable (and a little cooler) for the beginning yogis. The heat of the room is a little difficult at first but soon it feels like an old friend relieving your sore muscles, detoxifying your body and melting away stress. Soon you find yourself seeking out the warmer parts of the room – yes, really.
What are the benefits?
People find a variety of benefits from Bikram yoga including weight loss, injury healing, immune system improvement, increased flexibility, and stress reduction. Athletes see improvement in performance, but yoga is one of the few forms of exercise that you can do at any age, shape or level of fitness. Many of the most valued benefits are beyond the body helping with concentration and relieving depression or anxiety. Bikram yoga can improve your discipline and sense of well being.
Practice Frequency
In order to be effective, yoga must be practiced daily or on a regular basis with no long lapses between lessons. A minimum commitment of 10 classes in 30 days is required for the student to derive the maximum benefit from this program. You will find that you will want to do yoga. It is fun and it works. Your time and effort will return to you tenfold.
Postures
Bikram Yoga is a unique sequence of 26 hatha yoga postures including two breathing exercises. The Bikram series includes the most medicinal hatha yoga postures to help reshape and heal your body. For a detailed list of all poses, please see our gallery.
A little about Yogiraj Bikram Choudhury
Yogiraj Bikram Choudhury is the founder of the worldwide Yoga College of India™. Born in Calcutta in 1946, Bikram began Yoga at the age of four with Bishnu Ghosh, brother of Paramahansa Yogananda (Autobiography of a Yogi, founder of the Self Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles). Bikram practiced Yoga four to six hours a day at Ghosh’s College of Physical Education in Calcutta; and at the age of thirteen, he won the National India Yoga contest. He was undefeated for three years.
At seventeen, an injury to his knee during a weight-lifting accident brought the prediction from leading European doctors that he would never walk again. Not accepting their pronouncement, he had himself carried back to Bishnu Ghosh’s school, for he knew that if anyone could help to heal his knee, it was his teacher. Six months later, his knee had totally recovered. Ghosh was a celebrated physical culturist and the first to scientifically document Yoga’s ability to cure chronic physical ailments and heal the body.
Bikram was asked by Ghosh to start several Yoga schools in India. There Bikram came into his own. The schools were so successful that at Bishnu’s request Bikram traveled to Japan and opened two more. He has since brought his curative methods of Yoga therapy around the world.
If you have questions regarding yoga and your medical condition, please email Bikram at Bikram@BikramYoga.com with your name, phone number and a brief description of your concerns.
You can also visit the Bikram Yoga site at www.bikramyoga.com.
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