Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class (Bikram’s Yoga) is an approach to yoga popularized by Bikram Choudhury, a teacher of yoga who was born in India. He first gained prominence in the 1970s when he began to offer yoga classes in Los Angeles, California. A handsome and charismatic young man who, at the age of 11, was the youngest champion in the National India Yoga Competition, Bikram quickly gained prominence in the United States as the yogi to the rich and powerful. Indeed, his roster of students includes a large number of well-known people, including entertainers such as Shirley MacLaine, athletes such as John McEnroe and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and a host of politicians. More recently, you may find that you more frequently see a Bikram’s Yoga studio near you: Beginning in 1994, Bikram began certifying other teachers in his method. Since that time, he has trained several thousand teachers and is currently certifying 500 to 600 practitioners a year through the Yoga College of India, which he founded. His work has expanded well beyond California so that there are now more than 350 affiliated Yoga Colleges of India throughout the world.
Bikram’s Yoga is based on a series of 26 yoga postures, or asanas, that are performed in a set sequence. Bikram’s Yoga is typically practiced in yoga studios that are heated to a temperature of 90 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. A typical session lasts 90 minutes. A workout in this method of yoga is thus vigorous—indeed downright sweaty—and may be of interest to men who are looking for a more strenuous approach to yoga.
The 26 postures executed systematically in Bikram’s Yoga are designed to move fresh oxygen to every part of the body, helping to restore all the systems of a man’s body. They can help a man to achieve proper weight, muscle tone, good health, and a sense of well-being.
