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 classes run for 90 minutes and consist of the same series of 26 postures, including two breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 105°F (≈ 40.6°C) with a humidity of 40%. All Bikram classes are officially only taught by Bikram certified teachers, who have completed nine weeks of intensive training endorsed by Bikram. Bikram certified teachers are required to recite the Bikram dialogue verbatim in every Bikram class while standing at a podium in the front of the room.

Bikram Choudhury

Bikram Choudhury, founder of the Bikram Yoga system, is also the founder of the Yoga College of India. Born in Calcutta in 1946, Bikram began practicing yoga at age four. He practiced yoga 4–6 hours every day. At the age of thirteen, he won the National India Yoga Championship. He was undefeated for the following three years and retired as the undisputed All-India National Yoga Champion. Bikram later devised the 26 postures sequence and founded Bikram’s Yoga College of India. He has also written books and sings.

In 2006, he had 1,650 yoga studios around the world (up from 1,200 the previous year).

Notable practitioners

Notable practitioners of Bikram Yoga include Dan Hardy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, David Beckham, Lady Gaga, Ashton Kutcher, Robbie Williams, Andy Murray, Charles Barkley, Jennifer Farley, Lacey Turner, Madonna, Elton Brand, Ian Somerhalder, Nina Dobrev, Pippa Middleton, Daniel Craig, Brooke Shields, Sarah Palin, Bruce Bowen, John McEnroe, Beyoncé Knowles, Demi Moore, Ken O'Connell Tommy Smothers, George Clooney, David Robinson, Harry Styles, Treashinho, Neil "The Rat" Rattan, Oscar Bears, The Lid, Jennifer Aniston, Jeff Bridges, Lena Headey, Lola the Vamp, Toby Jones, Rod Masterson, Lea Michele, Kiran Chetry, Jesse Williams, Benedict Cumberbatch, Richard Armitage., Juliet Simms, and Andy Biersack

Health Benefits

According to a section in Benjamin Lorr's recent book, Hell-Bent, increased room temperature correlates with improved physical performance of the body. Specifically, blood vessels dilate and tissue expands improving blood flow and distribution of oxygen throughout the body. This creates an overall sense of well-being. Additionally, other athletes have adopted the heat as a part of their training routine similar to the way some athletes practice at mile high altitudes to improve their ability to absorb oxygen. Furthermore, Some sportsmen and professional dancers claim to prefer Bikram Yoga, because proponents argue it has injury-healing, emotion-strengthening, toxin-flushing, weight-managing, and career-extending effects.

Common suggested benefits may include weight loss, enhanced strength, increased flexibility, improved posture, mental clarity, a balanced blood pressure and proper metabolism, improved ability to concentrate. Other suggested benefits include the flushing of toxins and impurities from the body through hard work and sweat and Bikram claims specific poses can help clean out the veins and arteries.

Controversy

Safety

Excessive sweating can result in dehydration, but can be prevented by drinking water or sports drinks, particularly those that contain electrolytes.

Also, there is a risk of hyperthermia, which is overheating of the body. Symptoms include nausea, dizziness, or fainting, which can lead to a heat stroke. Simple hydration and resting during class makes a heat stroke near impossible.

Various conditions such multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and some cardiac complications can cause unique sensitivity to heat. Those struggling with these conditions are encouraged to check with their doctor before beginning hot yoga. Additionally, those who take medications for depression, nervousness, or insomnia may also wish to check with a doctor to determine if the heat will feel exacerbated by their medication.

Competition

Another 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, Bikram 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.

Legal issues

In the United States, Choudhury has claimed, and been aggressive in enforcing, broad copyrights in most aspects of the practice, teaching, and business of the system. While these claims are not definitively resolved (i.e., by any judicial ruling on the merits), Choudhury has extracted legal settlements from a number of yoga teachers and studios. However, in a recently issued official statement, the US Copyright Office concluded that copyright for Bikram's sequence of 26 postures had been issued in error.

On December 17, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright ruled that Bikram Choudhury does not have copyright protection for the sequence of 26 yoga postures and two breathing exercises commonly known as “Bikram Yoga.” The ruling, in favor of Evolation Yoga LLC and its founders Mark Drost and Zefea Samson, meant that non-Bikram studios are allowed to offer hot yoga classes utilizing that same 26-posture sequence—a legal right Choudhury actively and vigorously contested for several years.

In Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class (First Edition), Choudhury claims he conducted medical studies at the Tokyo University Medical School validating the medical benefits of his 26 postures. During one of the lawsuits, defendants demanded copies of the "medical" studies and Choudhury claimed he could not find them. In Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class (Second Edition), Choudhury removed all references to medical studies.

Two lawsuits accusing Bikram Choudhury of rape were filed in May 2013, in which a Jane Doe alleges sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment, and other counts in addition to the rape allegation. It describes a cult-like atmosphere where Bikram’s followers help him find young women to assault. “Other persons in defendant Bikram Choudhury’s inner circle, were aware of defendant Bikram Choudhury’s pattern and practice of causing, inducing or persuading young women to enroll in teacher training classes to become yoga instructors only so he can sexually assault and/or rape them,” the lawsuit claims.

The suits paint a cult-like atmosphere at the training camps. Trainees were allegedly told that Choudhury is on the same level as Jesus Christ or the Buddha, that Bikram yoga can cure cancer and that practitioners will be able to live to 100 years old. Trainees were bullied and humiliated as well as praised, the suits say, and Choudhury allegedly gave lectures in which he disparaged gays, Americans and made ethnic slurs. Jane Doe 2 claims that Choudhury recruits volunteers from overseas who are “so in fear of defendant Bikram Choudhury’s wrath that they will travel to the US and risk violating immigration laws in order to serve him. Once in the US these volunteers work for little or zero pay. “Their duties include grooming him, massaging him, making his tea, bring[ing] him food and being forced to submit to sexual assaults and rapes against their will,” the suit alleges.

Minakshi “Micki”Jafa-Bodden served as Head of Legal and International Affairs from Spring 2011 to March 13, 2013 when she claims she was “abruptly and unlawfully terminated” according to the court documents filed on July 12, 2013 in the Superior Court of California, Los Angeles. But perhaps the more serious matters lie within the 2 years that Jafa-Bodden worked closely with Bikram, during which she claims she was victim and witness to Bikram’s “severe, ongoing, pervasive and offensive conduct” especially to women, as well as homosexuals, African Americans and basically every other minority. The complaint is the fourth sex-based discrimination/sexual harassment/rape related suit filed this year against Bikram Choudhury. Bikram teacher Sarah Baughn filed a sexual harassment suit in March (just before Jafa-Bodden was fired), and two other unnamed women filed similar suits accusing Bikram of sexual harassment, intimidation and rape in May.

The 26 Asanas (postures)

The following are the 26 postures of Bikram Yoga. These are taught in the Beginning Bikram Yoga Class. The sequence is taught by people who have been trained and certified by Bikram Choudhury.

#	Sanskrit	English
1	प्राणायाम Prāṇāyāma	Standing Deep Breathing (lit. Breath Extension)
2	अर्धचन्द्रासन with पादहस्तासन Ardhacandrāsana with Pādahastāsana	Half Moon Pose with Hands To Feet Pose
3	उत्कटासन Utkaṭāsana	Awkward Pose
4	गरुडासन Garuḍāsana	Eagle Pose
5	दण्डायमन जानुशीर्षासन Daṇḍāyamana Jānuśīrṣāsana	Standing Head To Knee Pose
6	दण्डायमन धनुरासन Daṇḍāyamana Dhanurāsana	Standing Bow Pose
7	तुलादण्डासन Tulādaṇḍāsana	Balancing Stick Pose
8	दण्डायमन विभक्तपाद पश्चिमोत्तानासन Daṇḍāyamana Vibhaktapāda Paścimottānāsana	Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose
9	त्रिकोणासन Trikoṇāsana	Triangle Pose
10	दण्डायमन विभक्तपाद जानुशीर्षासन Daṇḍāyamana Vibhaktapāda Jānuśīrṣāsana	Standing Separate Leg Head To Knee Pose
11	ताडासन Tāḍāsana - This is the Sanskrit for first posture Mountain pose. The Sanskrit for Tree pose is Vriksasana	Tree Pose
12	पादाङ्गुष्ठासन Pādāṅguṣṭhāsana	Toe Stand Pose
13	शवासन Śavāsana	Corpse Pose
14	पवनमुक्तासन Pavanamuktāsana	Wind Removing Pose
15	पादहस्तासन Pādahastāsana	Hands To Feet Pose
16	भुजङ्गासन Bhujaṅgāsana	Cobra Pose
17	शलभासन Śalabhāsana	Locust Pose
18	पूर्णशलभासन Pūrṇaśalabhāsana	Full Locust Pose
19	धनुरासन Dhanurāsana	Bow Pose
20	सुप्तवज्रासन Suptavajrāsana	Fixed Firm Pose (lit. Reclining Thunderbolt Pose)
21	अर्धकूर्मासन Ardhakūrmāsana	Half Tortoise Pose
22	उष्ट्रासन Uṣṭrāsana	Camel Pose
23	शसांगासना Śasāṁgāsanā	Rabbit Pose
24	जानुशीर्षासन with पश्चिमोत्तानासन Jānuśīrṣāsana with Paścimottānāsana	Head To Knee Pose with Back Stretching Pose
25	अर्धमत्स्येन्द्रासन Ardhamatsyendrāsana	Spine Twisting Pose (lit. Half Lord of the Fishes Pose)
26	कपालभाति Kapālabhāti	Blowing In Firm Pose (lit. Skull Illuminating)