Bikram Choudhury

About Bikram Choudhury
Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram Yoga is one of the most popular fitness gurus in Hollywood. He is also the founder of the worldwide Yoga College of India. With this biography, you will get to know more about Bikram Choudhury as well as Bikram yoga.

I met Bikram at my teacher training in Hawaii, September 2007. What amazes me about Bikram is that he has such an amazing presence and incredible intelligence. In my experience I saw Bikram demonstrate that he could have a pleasant conversation in over 20 languages. There were a lot of students at teacher training from other countries and Bikram knew enough to engage a lot of them in their own language.

Bikram also has an amazing memory and connection with other people, when I was practicing yoga amongst 300 people, Bikram could talk directly to me and when I looked up he would say, that is right I am talking to you! I would notice he was looking directly at me. For me this confidence, connection and inner peace is what I intend to achieve as a teacher and director of my own Bikram Yoga Studio.

His Life History
Bikram Choudhury was born in the city of Calcutta (now Kolkata), in the year 1946. He was introduced to the technique of yoga at the tender age of four years only. Bikram underwent yoga training under Bishnu Ghosh, one of the most popular physical culturists of that time, at his 'College of Physical Education'. Bishnu is the younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda (Author of 'The Autobiography of a Yogi' and founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles).

Bikram practiced yoga rigorously, devoting four to six hours every day towards it. When he was only thirteen years old, he won the National India Yoga Championship and kept claiming the title for the next three years also. Thereafter he retired as the undisputed 'All-India National Yoga Champion'. At the age of seventeen years, Bikram Choudhury got badly injured in the knee during a weight-lifting accident. Renowned doctors, from as far as Europe, gave up the chances of his ever walking again.

However, having faith in his teacher, Bishnu Ghosh, and his yoga techniques, Bikram went back to his school. Six months later, he experienced total recovery in his knee. Thereafter, Bishnu asked Bikram Choudhury to start a number of Yoga schools in India. Bikram received fantastic response from people and his yoga schools become extremely successful. Then, again at Bishnu's insistence, Bikram traveled to Japan and opened two yoga schools. Since that time, he has being promoting the curative techniques of Yoga therapy around the world.

Bikram Yoga
Bikram Choudhury introduced a new style of yoga, known as the Bikram Yoga or Hot Yoga. This style is practiced in a room that has been preheated to a temperature of 105 deg F (40.5 deg C) and has a humidity of 50 percent. The training course goes on for nine weeks, during which the temperature is slowly taken to, as high as, 130 deg F. The entire course involves the training of 26 postures and two breathing exercises.