Almost forty years ago when Bikram cured President Nixon, he was welcomed to the United States. Bikram at that time was operating a school in Tokyo, Japan as per his Gurus wish. Yoga at that time was an unfamiliar word to most people in North America except for a select few, mostly hippies and flower children of the sixties, who would try anything if it was exotic enough.
He opened his first studio with the help of his students on Wilshire Avenue in Beverly Hills California. Word soon spread, and within months the biggest names in Hollywood swarmed to his studio to sweat it out! Those years, Bikram was the schools only teacher, and taught all the classes seven days a week. His high profile students noticed an amazing difference to their bodies, their skins, their energy levels as well as the calmness brought along with this yoga to their Hollywood egos and mind!
He became a media hit as well as the darling of Hollywood. He was written up in all magazines and newspapers, he was also on television and radio. Many people had tried to introduce Yoga to America, but no one had been able to create such a stir as Bikram. Hot Yoga, and the series of Yoga postures he put together in Bikrams Beginning Yoga Class, had come to stay.
His students now wanted to be trained by him, so that they in turn could go and spread his teachings and help people in other cities. San Francisco was the first major city after Los Angles to open a Bikram Hot Yoga studio. Today it seems there is a Bikram studio in every other block In San Francisco!
Teacher training is very different today then when Bikram first started. Now between 600 to 1200 students travel to Bikram each and every year to be trained and certified by him. This training is very extensive and intensive. Besides being taught the many aspects of Yoga, and its significance to our life force and well being, they also have to learn about the human anatomy and their functions. When they finally graduate, they are now free to work at any of the more than 3000 Bikram studios worldwide. As more and more people begin to make Bikram Yoga a regular part of their exercise routine, more schools are needed, and therefore the need for more teachers.
Another reason for Bikrams popularity was the number of sports superstars that swear by Bikram. In basketball, Kareem Abdul, extended his NBA career by six years. There is John McEnroe in tennis. Dallas Cowboys quarterback, J. Carter, and the likes of NHL superstar Wayne Gretzky are all familiar with what Bikram did for them for their fitness, flexibility, endurance and single mindedness at the peak of their professional careers.
Bikram is not just Yoga. Bikram is not just hot Yoga. Nor is it a series of exercises put together to please all. Bikram is a grueling, butt kicking form of exercise geared to work every part of your body scientifically as well as all your organs, to systemically, clean and detoxify your entire system towards a healthier more balanced body. Bikram is the most practiced yoga in the world, and without doubt the undisputed leader within the Yoga industry. Talk to any of our more then hundred of thousands Bikram fans, and you will find out in how many ways Bikram has changed their lives. Go to our web page and look them up in the testimonial section.
All Yoga is good, but having made that statement, why not go for the best, if one is close to you?
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