What is Bikram Yoga?

So you do Hot Yoga, that’s Bikram Yoga right? Wrong! Bikram Yoga has some serious rules and a history, and is clouded with a lot of confusion, mainly down to the man himself, Bikram Choudhury.

Background of Bikram Yoga

Bikram Yoga was developed by Bikram Choudhury in the late 60’s early 70’s. It was believed to have been solely developed and thought up by him, however in more recent years it has come to light that the practice was very much based on a sequence of postures put together by Bishnu Charan Ghosh.

Bikram was born in Calcutta, India in 1944. He had always claimed that he began to study Yoga with Bishnu Charan Ghosh. However in evidence from interviews over the years it seems his claims of training under Ghosh are false.

Bikram has a somewhat jaded history which started when he left India in 1971 to move to Los Angeles and open the first Bikram Yoga Studio.

Bikram Yoga Sutdio in America

The room was heated to a temperature of 41°C (105°F) and with a humidity level of 40%. The reason this temperature and humidity were so important to Bikram was that it was said to represent the climate you may find in India, and also due to the sweating that occurs during a practice in that heat, he believed it to also purify the body. His studio was mirrored, well lit and the floor carpeted, which past students have said gave the room a particular smell! 

Bikram the teacher

Bikrams whole teaching style was said to be incredibly harsh, but his adjustment to students were gentle, taking that particular body in front of him in to account. Students have said he seemed to have a deep understanding, and a gift of knowing different bodies and their capabilities, sometimes just through sight alone. He knew when and how much to push students, whether it be past their fear or if they were just being lazy that day!

He has a strong teaching voice, and so for students that made him came across as a really powerful force. It was said the feeling within the room was that of people almost fawning over him as the last living guru. In class there was no Om’s or chanting of any sort like you might find in any other kind of yoga class, however at the end of each class he would sing to his students, with what was described as a beautiful singing voice.

Most of Bikrams students who practiced with him during this time absolutely loved him and because of that, those students will never speak about any of the negativity that still surrounds him today. A lot feel confused and hurt at the possibility of certain claims against him actually being true.

He was known as ‘yogas bad boy’ and became popular solely through word of mouth, he was a showman, and become a bit of a celebrity. This notoriety was perhaps a turning point, and ultimately the downfall of Bikram in America.

In the late 80’s he developed teacher training through ‘Bikrams Yoga College of India’ as a feeder system and the only way into the Bikram franchise and to be able to teach his style. You can’t choose to go to teacher training, you have to be sent by your yoga studio owner.

Over a number of years he had thousands upon thousands of students attend training with him, with 9 week courses said to be around $10,000. He taught via a podium and had some unusual rules in training. Some of the rules included not being able to leave the training room until training was over, even to go to the toilet. Students must not wear green and the room was always heated, however Bikram himself had an air conditioning unit blowing directly at him.

In 2009 Bikram tried to claim copyright on his series of postures to protect them under the name of Bikram Yoga - his claims were unsuccessful.

In 2016 he returned to India where he began opening yoga studios and in 2018 began his teacher training again in Mexico and more recently in Spain during 2019. Students are still sent rather than choosing to attend and despite some of the negativity that still surrounds him, he is still as popular as ever, as is the practice!

The Practice

The practice takes around 90 minutes and is a sequence of fixed postures that are held for up to a minute - 24 asanas, 1 pranayama and 1 shatkarma - often referred to as the 26 + 2 Yoga.

Standing Deep Breathing (pranayama), Standing Side Bend, Awkward Pose, Eagle Pose, Standing Head to Knee Pose, Standing Bow Pose, Warrior 3, Wide Forward Fold, Triangle Pose, Pyramid, Tree Pose, Toe Stand Pose, Corpse Pose, Wind Relieving Pose, Sit up to Seated Forward Fold, Cobra Pose, Half Locust Pose, Full Locust Pose, Full Bow Pose, Full Reclined Hero Pose, Childs Pose, Camel Pose, Rabbit Pose, Seated Head to Knee, Half Lord of the Fishes Pose, Skull Polishing (shatkarma)

Kapalabhati is the Sanskrit name for Skull Polishing and this breath is intended to energise and balance. To perform this shatkarma it is a sharp and short out-breath, followed by relaxing through the core, this allows the body to inhale naturally on its own, then followed again by your sharp and short out-breath.

Want to know more about our yoga courses?

If you’d like to know more about different styles of yoga and the history behind them, we have dedicated sections to this on our 200hr and 500hr Yoga Teacher Training courses that are fully certified by Yoga Alliance International. To learn more, and download a syllabus you can visit our website www.yogacourse.com, or if you have any questions please email info@yogacourse.com today!