Bikram Choudhury - Informative & researched article on Bikram Choudhury
  Indianetzone: Largest Free Encyclopedia of India with thousand of articles Yoga


in  
Art & Culture | Entertainment | Health | Reference | Sports | Society | Travel
Forum  | Free E-magazine
Yoga : Yoga l Types of Yoga l Yoga Asanas l Patanjali Yoga Sutra l History of Yoga l Mudra l Suryayoga l Bhakti Yoga l Kundalini Yoga l Hatha Yoga l Yoga Institutes in India l Indian Yoga Gurus l Tantra Yoga l Sahaja Yoga l Kriya Yoga l Chakras l Karma Yoga l Yoga Ashramas in India l Pranayama l Japa Yoga l Astanga Yoga l Indian Yogic Philosophy l Properties of Yoga l Yoga Diet
Home > Health > Yoga > Indian Yoga Gurus > Bikram Choudhury
Bikram Choudhury
Bikram Choudhury was the founder of Bikram Yoga who popularized Yoga in the western world.

Bikram ChoudhuryBikram Choudhury is the Indian Yoga Guru and the founder of Bikram Yoga . He patented his own Yoga experiments as `Bikram Yoga` that is taught in more than four hundred franchise training centers all over the world. His Institute is situated from New York to Paris, from Los Angeles to Missoula and Montana. He has made Yoga as a booming business with sizzling popularity in which millions of dollars are being exchanged everyday.

Bikram Choudhury was born in Calcutta in 1946 and began Hatha Yoga at the age of four. He learned Yoga from Vishnu Ghosh (brother of Paramhansa Yogananda). At age 11, he was the youngest contestant ever to win the national India Yoga Competition. Swami Shjivananda declared him "Yogi Raj" (King of the Yogis). He won the National Indian Yoga Championship for the four consecutive years.By the age of fourteen he won the title of National Yoga Champion. But at the age of seventeen, he injured himself during an weight lifting exercise and had a serious knee injury. The doctors told him he would not be able to walk again. But Bikram Choudhury did not give in, with a strong determination he cured himself by Yoga. From that experience Bikram Choudhury developed his own exclusive method using the blueprint of eighty-four postures of yoga sutras of Patanjali. Choudhury mainly selected Twenty-six postures of Yoga that could be completed within ninety minutes.

Bikram Choudhury combined the Eastern discipline with the Western medicine and perfectly composed a comprehensive Yoga system, suitable for all ages and levels of fitness. Bikram Choudhury came to United States in the year 1973 and became the foremost teacher of Yoga. Since then he has been healing thousand of students at his school at Los Angeles and other places. Bikram Choudhury has lived in the United States for more than three decades. He founded the Yoga College of India in 1974 in Los Angeles, where he still teaches Yoga. Bikram Choudhury has brought the yoga waves throughout the west in the past decade. His client list includes many celebrities like Madonna, Abdul Kareem Jabbar, Shirley MacLaine, and John Mc. Enroe etc.

Bikram Choudhury`s wife rajashree was also the five-time winner of All India Yoga Championship Competition, where she competed against both men and women. She is now the lead instructor of Bikram Yoga. Bikram Choudhury also wrote `Bikram`s Beginning Yoga class Book`, which is a popular seller among Yoga books. In the Nineties Bikram Choudhury began offering nine-week teacher certification courses, and certified instructors from his institution are around thousand in numbers who franchised studios all over the world.

Bikram Choudhury`s style of yoga is not beyond controversy. Many traditionalists went against his concept of selling yoga as the principles of yoga discourage greed. But one has to agree that Bikram Choudhury is one of them who has blended capitalism with spirituality and about eighteen millions people over the world is following Bikram Yoga.

(Last Updated on : 4/03/2010)
  More Articles in Indian Yoga Gurus
 
T.K.V. Desikachar Bikram Choudhury BKS Iyengar
Paramhansa Yogananda Sri Krishnamacharya Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois
Swami Vishnu Devananda Yogi Amrit Desai Sri Anadamayi Ma
Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi    
Recently Updated Articles in Yoga
  • Impact of Yoga on Muscular System
    Impact of Yoga on Muscular System of the human being is instrumental in improving flexibility, steadiness and muscle tone in an individual, through regular practice.
  •  
  • Types of Yoga Mudra
    Types of Yoga Mudra aid an individual to attain overall well being. Yoga Mudra has a remarkable effect on posture and thought process.
  •  
     
  • Types of Mudras
    Types of Mudras are categorised as mudras, eye mudras and others. The different types of mudras support self development. Practice of mudras enables one to balance mind and body.
  •  
  • Exercises for Swadhisthana Chakra
    Exercises for Swadhisthana Chakra involves various asanas like mediation and Goddess Pose. These yoga asanas help in activating the chakras.
  •  
  • Yoga Exercises of Mooladhara Chakras
    Yoga Exercises of Mooladhara Chakras encompasses different types of asanas like Apanasana, Setu Bhandasana, Shalabhasana and Janus Sirsasana.
  •  
    E-mail this Article | Post a Comment
    RSS Feeds
    Forum
    Forum on Yoga

    Free E-magazine
    Subscribe to Free
    E-Magazine on Indian Crafts
     
     
    Bikram Choudhury - Informative & researched article on Bikram Choudhury
    Sitemap
    Contact Us   |   RSS Feeds
    Copyright © 2008 Jupiter Infomedia Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved including the right to reproduce the contents in whole or in part in any form or medium without the express written permission of Jupiter Infomedia Pvt. Ltd.