Who is Bikram Choudhury? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Indian Celebrities Born In February

Age: 80 Years, 80 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Rajashree Choudhury (1984 - div. 2016)

children: Anurag Choudhury, Laju Choudhury

Born Country: India

American Men Indian Men

Height: 1.65 m

Ancestry: Indian American

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1

What is Bikram Choudhury's yoga style known for?

Bikram Choudhury is known for creating the Bikram Yoga style, consisting of a series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises practiced in a heated room.
2

What controversy is associated with Bikram Choudhury?

Bikram Choudhury faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct from former students and employees, leading to legal battles and his eventual downfall in the yoga community.
3

What are the benefits of practicing Bikram Yoga?

Bikram Yoga is believed to help improve flexibility, strength, balance, and overall physical fitness. The heated environment is said to promote detoxification and increase cardiovascular endurance.
4

Where can one find Bikram Choudhury's official teachings and classes now?

Following the controversies, Bikram Choudhury's official teachings and classes are no longer widely available. However, some former Bikram Yoga instructors have developed similar hot yoga classes under different names.
5

What impact did the Bikram Choudhury scandal have on the yoga community?

The Bikram Choudhury scandal sparked important conversations about power dynamics, ethics, and abuse in the yoga industry. It led to increased awareness of the need for accountability and safety measures within yoga spaces.

Childhood & Early Life

Bikram Choudhury was born on February 10, 1944 in Calcutta, British India (now Kolkata, West Bengal, India). He began practicing yoga at the age of three and spent up to six hours per day perfecting his poses.

According to his book, he trained under Bishnu Charan Ghosh, the younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda, and won the National India Yoga Championship for three consecutive years in his teens. However, the first ever Yoga competition in India was held in 1974, after he left the country, which prompted many to question his credibility.

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Career

Bikram Choudhury claims to have left India in 1970 after his guru, Bishnu Charan Ghosh, instructed him to spread the practice throughout the world. He first went to Japan, where he began to heat the room while performing yoga after finding himself shivering through his postures during winter.

He claimed that his "good friend", then US President Richard Nixon, invited him to America and also helped him get his visa, and in return, he cured him of phlebitis.

In 1972, he launched Bikram’s Yoga College of India in a small studio in the North Beach section of San Francisco, followed by more studios in Beverly Hills, California and in Hawaii.

He arranged a sequence of 26 yoga postures and two breathing exercises to work every muscle in the body and named it 'Bikram Yoga'. His form of yoga was supposed to be performed at 104-degree Fahrenheit to mimic the climate of India, and also to allow the body to loosen faster.

In the 1990s, he began offering nine-week-long teacher certification courses which allowed instructors to open a Bikram Yoga studio. In the following decades, thousands of instructors began offering his particular blend of yoga all over the world.

In 2002, he claimed that his series of postures were under copyright, and in 2011, filed a lawsuit against Yoga to the People, a rival studio by a former student. Subsequently, the United States Copyright Office issued a clarification that yoga postures cannot be copyrighted the way he claimed.

Lawsuits

Bikram Choudhury faced several sexual abuse lawsuits against him starting in March 2013 when Bikram teacher, Sarah Baughn, filed a sexual harassment suit. In May 2013, two more women accused him of rape, sexual battery, false imprisonment, discrimination, harassment, and more.

In July 2013, his former Head of Legal and International Affairs, Minakshi 'Micki' Jafa-Bodden, who was fired in March, filed a lawsuit claiming sexual harassment, gender discrimination, assault, defamation, negligence, and breach of contract. After he fled to India in early 2016, the Los Angeles County Court awarded $7 million to Jafa-Boden and gave her control of his yoga business after he failed to pay.

Major Works

Bikram Choudhury is best known for creating Bikram Yoga, which earned him over $5 million a year. He also published two books, 'Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class' (1987) and 'Bikram Yoga: The Guru Behind Hot Yoga' (2007).

Family & Personal Life

Bikram Choudhury married yoga therapist, Rajashree Choudhury, founder of the United States Yoga Federation, in 1984, and had two children with her: daughter Laju and son Anurag. In the wake of sexual abuse lawsuits against him, Rajashree filed for divorce in December 2015 citing irreconcilable differences, which was finalized in May 2016.

Following divorce, Rajashree was awarded the houses in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, his luxury cars, and was indemnified from any financial responsibility in his pending lawsuits. Bikram Choudhury fled to India in May 2016 and settled in the hill station Lonavala, but recently in 2018, he held a training program in Acapulco, Mexico.

Facts About Bikram Choudhury

Bikram Choudhury claims to have taught yoga to many celebrities and athletes, including Shirley MacLaine, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and George Clooney.

He often wears a Speedo swimsuit during his yoga classes, which has become somewhat of a trademark look for him.

Despite his controversial reputation, some students have praised Bikram Choudhury for his unique teaching style and the physical benefits they have experienced from practicing Bikram Yoga.

Bikram Choudhury has written several books on yoga and health, sharing his knowledge and insights with a wide audience.

Bikram Choudhury Biography

You wanted to know

What is Bikram Choudhury's yoga style known for?

What controversy is associated with Bikram Choudhury?

What are the benefits of practicing Bikram Yoga?

Where can one find Bikram Choudhury's official teachings and classes now?

What impact did the Bikram Choudhury scandal have on the yoga community?