Bikram Yoga
| Bikram Yoga | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Bikram Choudhury |
| Established | late 20th century |
| Practice emphases | |
| Unchanging sequence of postures in a heated room, designed as a rejuvenating exercise to strengthen the entire body, from head to toe. | |
Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional hatha yoga techniques and popularized beginning in the early 1970s. All Bikram Yoga Beginning Series classes run for 90 minutes and consist of the same series of 26 postures, including two breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is a hot yoga style, and is ideally practiced in a room heated to 35–42 °C (95–108 °F) with a humidity of 40%. All official Bikram classes are taught by Bikram-certified teachers, who have completed nine weeks of training endorsed by Choudhury. Bikram-certified teachers are taught a standardized dialogue to run the class, but are encouraged to develop their teaching skills the longer they teach. This results in varying deliveries and distinct teaching styles.
Bikram Choudhury, founder of the Bikram Yoga system, is also the founder of the Yoga College of India. Born in Calcutta in 1944, Choudhury began practicing yoga at age four. He stated that he practiced yoga 4–6 hours every day. At the age of thirteen, he asserts that he won the National India Yoga Championship and was undefeated for the following three years and retired as the undisputed All-India National Yoga Champion..
Choudhury later devised the 26 postures sequence and founded Bikram's Yoga College of India. He has also written books and sings.
As of 2006, he had 1,650 yoga studios around the world. In 2012, there were 330 studios in the United States and 600 worldwide.
A 2015 review found that one randomized controlled clinical trial has been conducted, using 21 healthy subjects with a mean age of 27; the study was too small to draw generalizations from but the people in the study arm had mildly improved strength and flexibility.
A 2013 review of adverse effects from yoga found that Pranayama and Bikram were the most commonly cited styles, and found harm arising mostly in instructors who practiced intensely over a long period of time and who used advanced positions like handstands; in Bikram most of the adverse events arose from the heat and included low salt levels due to excessive water drinking and sweating.
One controversial component of Bikram Yoga pertains to the prevalence of Yoga Asana Championships, regionally and nationally. While practitioners of other forms of yoga maintain that competition contradicts the idea of peace and unity, Choudhury contends, "Competition is the foundation for all democratic societies. For without 'Competition', there is no democracy."
In India, where yoga originated, yoga competitions have been around for over a century. Yoga Sports Federation which hosted The 9th Annual Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup in June 2012 says that yoga competitions inspire both practicing yogis and newcomers to sharpen their skills. Another aim of the Federation is to turn Yoga Asana into a recognized Olympic sport.
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