Bikram Yoga
Bikram Yoga
Origins: World-renowned yoga master Bikram Choudhury began practicing Hatha yoga in India at the age of three. At five, he began studying with Bishnu Ghosh (Paramhansa Yogananda’s brother) and quickly became a yoga champion, when at age eleven he was the youngest contestant ever to win the National India Yoga Competition. At age 20, a weightlifting accident crippled Bikram. With the guidance of his guru, Bikram created the 26-posture series that restored his health. Combining Eastern discipline and Western medicine, Bikram perfected his comprehensive system suitable for all ages and levels of fitness. Bikram arrived in the United States in 1973 and soon became one of the foremost yoga teachers in the West as celebrities, athletes, and others began to flock to him.
Teachings: “The mind cannot exist without a body and body is not very useful without a healthy mind,” Bikram believes. “Yoga postures re-establish the body’s essential balance through neuromuscular integration and the strengthening of the mind/body connection. They enhance health in a natural way, acting therapeutically on chronic disease, achieving and maintaining normal body weight and increasing the body’s energy until radiant health is achieved.”
Class focus: Bikram yoga is done in a room heated to 40°C for 90 minutes and consists of a 26-asana series, where each posture is repeated twice, designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons in a set order. The first 55 minutes are standing postures and the next 35 minutes is the floor series.
Who can practice? According to Bikram, anyone can take part in a Bikram yoga class even those with physical disabilities. Bikram believes that just by being in the hot room, you are healing.
Teacher training: The teacher training programme takes place over nine weeks with Bikram himself in Los Angeles. It requires doing two classes a day Monday to Friday, once a day on a Saturday and resting on a Sunday to learn the dialogue. The course runs bi-annually in April and September and one has to have done Bikram for six months before going on the training.
Philosophy: “First heal the body and once the body is healed, then you can move into meditation through yoga practice” – Bikram Choudhury
Contact details: Bikram Yoga Jozi in Illovo, Sandton, call (011) 268 0642 or visit www.bikramyoga.co.za Bikram Yoga Fourways call (011) 465 5777 or visit www.bikramyoga4ways.co.za Bikram Yoga Randburg call (011) 791 6228 or visit www.byr.co.za. Yoga Zone in Cape Town on (021) 421 8136 or visit www.yogazone.co.za.
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