Birkram Yoga

Birkram Yoga


By: Anthony Ruddock











Bikram Yoga or Hot Yoga is really a style of yoga developed in Los Angeles by Bikram Choudhury. Born in India in 1946, Choudhury settled in California in the 1970s and currently lives in Beverly Hills.

The distinctive element in Bikram yoga is the sessions take place in a well heated room in a temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit or more. This resembles temperatures in lots of parts of India where yoga developed.

If people arrive at a class for the first time unprepared for the extreme heat, they often quit the classes. But like a sauna, it is beneficial for reducing muscle stiffness and increasing physical relaxation and overall flexibility. People who stay through the first few sessions often come to understand this aspect of the class.

A Bikram yoga class uses a number of 26 postures that are determined by traditional Indian yoga poses. Many of these poses are also utilised in other types of yoga but Bikram yoga is unusual for the reason that it only ever uses these same poses in a single sequence, and no others, although a class may go through the sequence twice. The breath can also be crucial in Bikram style of yoga. Most classes are 90 minutes and can include breathing in exercises in addition to the postures, plus a relaxation session at the end.

As with most forms of yoga it is important not to be competitive with others or expect quick results, but work at the yoga practice for its own sake. Pupils must take care never to over stretch or hurt themselves. Progress tend to be steady but slow. However the beneficial effect of attending a yoga class frequently can be felt in all areas of daily life and sometimes can be reawakened by returning to practice many years later.

Bikram Choudhury has sparked controversy in both the American yoga community and in India by claiming copyright on the sequence of yoga poses that he uses. The opposition dispute is that traditional poses which have been used by yoga teachers in India for centuries can't be copyrighted. To date this argument has failed to overturn the copyright within the USA, and anybody wishing to teach Bikram yoga or use his sequence of poses must obtain a licence in order to do so. Naturally this does not prevent other yoga instructors from teaching the same basic yoga poses in different sequences, but they may not call themselves Bikram yoga teachers.

As well as the requirement for the instructor to obtain a licence, there can be limitations on the popularity of Bikram yoga caused by the high temperatures required. This isn't only because people are uncomfortable in these temperatures. Most public building administrators would not allow an instructor to heat the room that high, so a particular yoga studio is required. Due to these factors there are no longer so many Bikram yoga classes as there is in other styles of yoga