Bikram’s Yoga and History (Summary)

Bikram’s Yoga and History (Summary)

Yogiraj Bikram Choudhury is a world renowned Hatha Yoga Master and the founder of Bikram Yoga. Bikram yoga has been around for over 30 years now and is still becoming widely known and is one of the most popular yoga styles of today.

Starting at the very early age of just four years old, Bikram started studying yoga with India's most-renowned physical culturist at that time, Bishnu Ghosh. Bikram practiced yoga for about four to six hours a day at Ghosh's College of Physical Education in Calcutta.

At the mere age of thirteen, Bikram won the National India Contest. He became known as India’s youngest competitor and was undefeated for three years. Afterwards, Bikram retired as the undisputed All-India National Yoga Champion and decided to pursue an athletic career as a marathon runner and a champion weightlifter. Bikram set world record lifts at the Olympics in Tokyo in 1964.

At seventeen, a weight lifting accident left Bikram crippled with a knee injury. Many European doctors predicted that Bikram would never walk again. Bikram headed back to his home in India and his guru teacher, Bishnu Ghosh. Through Bikram’s own yoga therapy, it took six months for Bikram’s knee to fully recover. This gave Ghosh the chance to document yoga’s ability to cure and heal the body of physical injuries.

Bikram then opened several yoga schools throughout India. The schools became so successful that Bikram started opening more schools around the world. Bikram also opened two schools in Japan and while there, was able to prove medical benefits of his yoga system to doctors. Bikram is continuing to work closely with doctors and medical organizations including the Mayo Clinic. There, he is teaching yoga to recovering heart attack patients. Bikram is also the founder of the worldwide Yoga College of India in California.