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| Bikram Yoga | |
|---|---|
| Religious origins: | Hinduism |
| Regional origins: | Yoga College of India, Mumbai, India |
| Founding Guru: | Bikram Choudhury |
| Mainstream popularity: | Growing from the 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 |
| Derivative forms: | |
| Related schools | |
| Other topics | |
Bikram Yoga, also known as Hot Yoga, is a style of yoga developed by Bikram Choudhury and a Los Angeles, California based company[1]. Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 105°F (40.5°C) with a humidity of 40%. Classes are guided by specific dialogue including 26 postures and two breathing exercises. Classes last approximately 90-minutes. Beginners may take Bikram yoga classes.
Choudhury currently lives in Beverly Hills and teaches at his self-founded Bikram's Yoga College of India in Los Angeles. Before emigrating to the United States, Bikram was trained at the Bishnu Ghosh school in Calcutta, India.[2]. Controversially, Bikram holds a U.S. copyright on his yoga, and yoga instructors must undergo a paid training and certification process to teach it.[3]
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Overview
Bikram or hot yoga is a series of yoga poses done in a heated room, which is usually maintained at a temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 40 degrees Celsius). A vigorous yoga session at this temperature promotes profuse sweating, which rids the body of toxins. It also makes the body very warm, and therefore more flexible.[4]
Bikram yoga is a system of wellness, restoration and rejuvenation. The heated studio facilitates deeper stretching, prevents injury, relieves stress and tension and detoxifies the body. Bikram yoga was designed to systematically stimulate and restore health to every muscle, joint and organ of the body. Participants are guided through a series of 26 postures.
The 26 Asana (postures)
| # | Sanskrit | English |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pranayama Series | Standing Deep Breathing |
| 2 | Ardha Chandrasana with Pada-Hastasana | Half Moon Pose with Hands To Feet Pose |
| 3 | Utkatasana | Awkward Pose |
| 4 | Garurasana | Eagle Pose |
| 5 | Dandayamana - JanuShirasana | Standing Head To Knee Pose |
| 6 | Dandayamana - Dhanurasana | Standing Bow Pulling Pose |
| 7 | Tuladandasana | Balancing Stick Pose |
| 8 | Dandayamana - Bibhaktapada - Paschimottanasana | Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose |
| 9 | Trikonasana | Triangle Pose |
| 10 | Dandayamana - Bibhaktapada - Janushirasana | Standing Separate Leg Head To Knee Pose |
| 11 | Tadasana | Tree Pose |
| 12 | Padangustasana | Toe Stand Pose |
| 13 | Savasana | Dead Body Pose |
| 14 | Pavanamuktasana | Wind Removing Pose |
| 15 | Sit up | Sit up |
| 16 | Bhujangasana | Cobra Pose |
| 17 | Salabhasana | Locust Pose |
| 18 | Poorna - Salabhasana | Full Locust Pose |
| 19 | Dhanurasana | Bow Pose |
| 20 | Supta - Vajrasana | Fixed Firm Pose |
| 21 | Ardha - Kurmasana | Half Tortoise Pose |
| 22 | Ustrasana | Camel Pose |
| 23 | Sasangasana | Rabbit Pose |
| 24 | Janushirasana with Paschimottanasana | Head To Knee Pose with Stretching Pose |
| 25 | Ardha - Matsyendrasana | Spine Twisting Pose |
| 26 | Khapalbhati | Blowing In Firm |
Controversy
Considerable controversy has surrounded Bikram Choudury's copyright and franchising of Bikram yoga. Bikram has aggressively enforced claims of copyright and trademark protection, most notably claiming that the sequence of asanas in Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class falls under his copyright. His cease-and-desist letters and lawsuits (see the U.S. case Open Source Yoga Unity v. Bikram Choudhury[5], for example) have drawn protest from some North American yoga practitioners. In addition, his claims have incited numerous Indian historians and scientists to catalogue various yoga poses documented in ancient texts, with the intention of demonstrating that yoga poses vastly predate new copyrights.[3].
Some yoga practitioners more generally protest the application of copyright, franchising, trademarking and personal profit to the yoga tradition.[6] This controversy spawned the 2006 documentary Yoga, Inc.[1] as well as epithets such as "McYoga" and "McBikram".
Additionally, Bikram and Bikram yoga enthusiasts have been criticized for their endorsement of competitiveness in yoga, on the grounds that it deviates from yoga's true nature and purpose.[7]
Notes
- ^ Corporate registration for "Bikram Choudhury Yoga, Inc." Number: C2288343
- ^ Hilary E. MacGregor, Have You Had Your McYoga today? Los Angeles Times, July 7 2002.
- ^ a b Mindy Fetterman, Yoga Copyright Raises Questions of Ownership, USA Today, July 29, 2006.
- ^ Yoga, - Articles
- ^ Open Source Yoga Unity v. Bikram Choudhury, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10440, 74 U.S.P.Q.2D (BNA) 1434, Copy. L. Rep. (CCH) P28,982 (N.D. Cal. 2005)
- ^ Joshua Kurlantzick, The Money Pose, motherjones.com, March, 2005.
- ^ April Baer, Competitive Yoga Enthusiasts Seek Spot in Future Olympics, OPB News, June 10, 2008.
See also
External links
- Official website
- Bikram Yoga studio locations and reviews
- 'Yoga, Inc.', a documentary about the Bikram copyright case, 'competitive' yoga and the yoga industry
- The Money Pose, Mother Jones Magazine, Mar/Apr 2005.
- List of all 26 postures with illustrations
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