How Bikram Yoga was introduced to the West

I love the fact that yoga has been around for thousands of years – in India at least. Then you can trust that it is not just a fad – it has a solid foundation that has been proved to assist the body, mind and soul for millennia. It is only relatively recently that people in the West have been introduced to the practice.

By the way, Hatha Yoga is the name given to the physical type of yoga (there are many types) and the Bikram Method is just one type of Hatha Yoga. Bikram’s is reputed to be the most hard working, dynamic, challenging and effective series of postures as it works every muscle, tendon, ligament, internal organ, every inch of the spine – you name it – it gets worked – right down to the cellular level.

What you may not know is that it was the Hollywood actress Shirley Maclaine who originally “found” Bikram on one of her spiritual journeys through India and it was her who persuaded him to come to the United States to establish his type of yoga there as she felt it could help people from all walks of life.

It caused quite a stir especially in Hollywood where many stars, celebrities, and professional sports people sweated their butts off in classes taught specifically by Bikram Choudhury himself – the founder of this ground breaking yoga system.

The first Bikram book was published in the Seventies and it was this book that I studied and practiced from every day for 12 years in my bedroom before waking up suddenly one morning with an absolute knowing that I had to teach it! Over the decades it has spread dynamically around the world, myself being the second person in Europe to have been trained in this system. I originally brought it to Jersey in April 1997 and it took the island by storm!

It is definitely a challenging workout but my aim in teaching is to impart the importance of what I believe it is really about and that is a “body mind connection” experience. The more harmony you can create between your body and mind the better your body will be. Once you can establish that it is amazing what your body will do!

Bevx

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