Interview

with

Michele Pernetta

1. Bikram Yoga is very different to any other Yoga class I’ve done. For beginners – especially people who are stiff, skeptical or shy – walking into a class can be a little intimidating. How do you make beginners feel welcome?

Because Bikram Yoga is a beginners yoga series, and all levels practice together, a beginner will notice that they are not alone and that in any class, along side the more advanced students (who will be practicing the advanced versions of the postures) there will be many newcomers, with a variety of fitness levels. Because the class is dialogue based, they will have no trouble performing the postures to their own level. We pride ourselves on the variety of people of all sizes, ages and backgrounds. 40% of the class is men. The teacher will make everyone feel welcome and remind us that it is just about us all working to our own personal ability. We also pride ourselves on the friendly, un-pretentious atmosphere at our studios. Bikram wants students to be able to have a good laugh while they sweat and groan!

Beginners are told to sit down whenever they want to. Only do what they can, and not to worry, that everyone takes a few classes to get used to it.

It does not matter how old, how unfit, how large, how injured, this yoga is for everyone, it is safe, it is simple and it is fun!

2. The first thing that hits you when you walk into a Bikram Yoga class is the heat, which is quite overpowering. Do you have many beginners who feel faint, claustrophobic or panicky during a class? Is the heat too overpowering for some?

The temperature of the room is just the working temperature of our muscles and joints. It is the temperature we get to when we exercise, and it means we do not lose this body heat into a cold room, risking injury. It takes about 3 lessons to get used to the heat. No, no one has felt claustrophobic or panicky. The air is fresh and the rooms are light and bright. As soon as you start the postures it feels good to sweat and stretch. People sometimes feel a bit light headed in the beginning, but no one actually does faint. You just sit down, drink some water and you feel fine again in a couple of minutes. This is just an indication that we are in bad shape and need to exercise, not that there is something wrong with the heat. Very quickly the stamina improves. Also people with low blood pressure may feel this way, but the series will improve low and high blood pressure.

The heated room is actually designed to STOP the body from overheating. The body is trying to reach its optimal temperature for exercising. If the room is cold it keeps turning up its “thermostat” to try to reach its desired temperature. With a hot room the outer part of the body, (muscles and joints) reach this temperature easily and so the body sweats to cool down, and therefore the core of the body (internal organs) stay at their normal temperature and do not get heated.

The heat is only overpowering if we do not take the trouble to do a few classes close together, to get used to it. Some people obviously do not like the heat that much, but these preferences are outweighed by the enormous benefits that are felt almost immediately and so being hot is a small price to pay for this wellbeing. In time one grows to love the heat so much, that as soon as the heat drops I get complaints that it is not hot enough and students are asking for the heat to be turned up.

3. Why are there 26 postures and why do the classes last for 90 minutes? This seems quite regimented – is there any leeway? (Perhaps you could explain a little about where you learnt to teach Bikram and the methods behind the teaching)

The 26 postures (and two breathing exercises) originated as the postures that are practiced in India and often “prescribed” as therapies to treat chronic ailments. Bikram learned them from his guru (Bishnu Ghosh – the originator of competitive body building and yoga master, also the brother of Paramahansa Yogananda) and used to prescribe them to patients. He decided that if they treated disease and ailments, then what would happen if you put them together and created a complete series to improve the whole body and internal organs and thus prevent disease, ageing, and treat injuries? He and his guru perfected this series together, and then when Bikram crushed his knee in a weight lifting accident he was carried to his guru’s yoga school, and having been told he would not walk on that leg again he began his rehabilitation using the 26 posture series. During this rehabilitation in which Bikram cured his knee they perfected the series. When Bikram opened a school in Tokyo near the Medical University, the doctors started coming, and became fascinated with the yoga. They started a testing programme that ran for two years in which they discovered the healing benefits of the postures and what they did to the human body. Some final adjustments were made to the series in the light of the medical research.

The 26 postures all together treat 100% of the body, including the internal organs, systems, ligaments, tendons and joints. Every part of the body is sent oxygen. It is quite complicated how it works, but in brief, they discovered (through the testing, although yogis have known this for 5,000 years) that it is through the principles of;

• The Tourniquet Effect, stretching, balancing (using gravity) and creating pressure all at the same time that the blood supply in the arteries and veins is being cut off, creating pressure. When released a lock gate is created causing blood to rush through at high speed flushing out the veins and arteries. Also pressure is applied to the heart by its relative position to the rest of the body thereby flushing out the arteries and strengthening it,
• b) Holding the posture STILL for even a few seconds (about 20-30) and then releasing it and staying still, that the benefits were achieved. That is why there is a rest after each posture. During the release where you stand or lie still for 20-30 seconds the body processes the posture.
• By repeating the posture twice you get strength and stamina on the first set, and then your body has a cellular memory of the posture, on the second set you can go much deeper and thus improve your flexibility very quickly. Each posture prepares you perfectly for the next posture, warming you up gradually so that by the time you are on the floor you are ready for the deeper stretches.

I have found that Bikram Yoga creates the strongest body and the most flexible body of any exercise system (I have spent 10 years as a martial artist, and also did 3 years gymnastics and also dance) and Bikram yoga not only was deeper, and more challenging, but it mended all the problems and injuries I had created doing these systems). It literally changes the skeleton! Over time, the heat and the yoga will reshape the body from the inside out.

Yes it may feel regimented in the beginning, but very quickly you will find that performing the same sequence becomes quite liberating. You can relax into it, knowing what is coming next, and you can go into a meditation, just breathing, and feeling your body, and not having to wonder about what is coming next. Bikram calls the class a meditation class (“if you can meditate here, you can meditate anywhere! And “anyone can meditate in a dark quiet room, you need to be able to meditate in the midst of a challenging situation! That is what I teach”)

Bikram says that the series must not be changed. It is perfect and only has the cumulative benefit if it is performed exactly as it is. One of the reasons behind the franchise plans is to keep the series pure and protect it from being changed.

I learned Bikram Yoga when I lived in Los Angeles (where Bikram is based). I was a martial arts black belt and had two injured knees, one of which required surgery. I heard that Bikram was world famous for fixing knees and so I went to him, as I did not believe that the body could not heal itself. I had been in pain for 2 years. Bikram promised to fix my knees, and although torn cartilage is not supposed to be able to heal, he did! I also healed torn rotator cuff, flat feet, scoliosis and a weak neck. I was amazed, and when I moved back to London (after 5 years) Bikram told me I should teach. I came back to LA to do the teacher training, and opened the first studio in 2000.

The class is dialogue based, so that instead of the student having to look around and copy the teacher, they can allow the teachers voice to become their mind. This means you can empty your mind and just surrender to the yoga, the voice of the teacher. This is incredibly relaxing. It also allows the teacher to teach large groups, as they can keep their eyes and attention on the students. As you can see, there are very often 60 students in the class, and an experienced teacher can easily watch and correct every student. Bikram just taught the largest yoga class in the world, over 1200 people! Believe me, he notices every tiny thing you do and corrects you immediately!

4. It was refreshing to see so many men in the class, benefiting hugely from Bikram. However, most men still shy away from Yoga because of the tired misconception that it is exclusively for bendy women in Lycra. What would you say to encourage more stiff and skeptical men – and women, too! – to come to the class?

People have the misconception that you need to be flexible in order to do yoga. Yoga is FOR stiff people. It is merely a safe and effective way of stretching your whole body, with the added benefit of making you extremely strong at the same time. It is a science for whole body improvement unsurpassed by any. I tell students that it is not about performing a perfect posture; there is no such thing! It is about doing the best you can for your body. We tell men not to be shy because they will be with lots of other men, and that they also have a benefit that most women do not have, as beginners, which is they are strong. Women are flexible and weak on the whole (as beginners) and men are strong and stiff. Yoga is about balancing these male and female aspects in the body. Also men love Bikram because they like to feel that they have worked, and are not required to sit still for ages or chant, or meditate. These things come in their own time to those who are so inclined, and can be practiced in the privacy of their own homes. The spiritual aspect is there, but not forced on people. It happens without you realizing. Bikram says, “I teach spirituality. I use the body as the medium”.

Many men came to my studios after one of their friends told them it was the hardest workout they had ever done! Other came because they had injuries that would not heal, other because they heard it was the fastest way to improve flexibility. Everyone comes for their own reason, but all walk away with more than they expected.

5. I was amazed how much difference the heat made to my flexibility and progress, so I found the class much more satisfying, rewarding and physically beneficial than a normal Yoga class. In what ways is Bikram more beneficial to ‘normal room temperature’ Yoga and why?

I think I answered some of this in the questions above, but I will add that according to Bikram this is normal temperature yoga!! In England especially, where it is usually cold, it is difficult to practice yoga in a freezing cold hall somewhere. It is easy to injure oneself. The heat is making the muscles, joints, ligaments and tendons supple and elastic, so they can be stretched without fear of injury. The other amazing thing is that you can push hard in a Bikram class, much harder than you could push in a class held without heat, and never hurt yourself. This way you can improve very fast. People make changes in a Bikram class much faster than in “regular” classes. This makes it suitable even for those who are old, infirm, or with injuries.

However, skeptics say (incorrectly) that the heat is a gimmick. I must stress that even without the heat the Bikram Series is unsurpassed as a system of body and health improvement, and can be practiced at home, or in any temperature with incredible results. The heat just supports your practice and makes it safe, detoxifying, and aids in healing injuries and misalignment of the body. Many students came to us when we opened that had been practicing from the book at home without the heat, and they were in great shape! They had received countless benefits. They noticed however that the process was speeded up and they could work much harder, and stretch much further in the heated room.

Although there are many wonderful teachers out there, very often yoga is being taught by teachers that are either untrained, or have little experience. Sometimes teachers stray from their chosen yoga path to invent series of their own. This is sometimes done without a solid knowledge of how the postures work together and prepare the practitioner to prevent injury. Bikram teachers are very highly trained, and as we keep to the proven series, which has been handed down from, recently, two of the most highly respected Indian yoga gurus in the world, and before that from a long line of masters, we are protected by the knowledge that we are working in a lineage of wisdom, and using the classical hatha yoga postures that have been around for thousands of years. Bikram Yoga has not been changed by westerners, to suit westerners or been bastardized to suit the lunchtime slot of a gym or health club. It is straight from the mouth of a true Indian master and is how yoga is supposed to be taught.

6. When you were teaching the class, it was clear that you are ‘anti’ the gym – stepper, treadmill, bike etc. – and that you consider Bikram to be a complete physical workout. Is this true and, if so, could you explain in more detail why you think Bikram can replace ‘gym’ exercises on machines.

I am not anti gym at all. I feel the gym can be a useful compliment to yoga. However Bikram states that firstly, exercising in a cold, or worse, air-conditioned room is the cause of many problems including arthritis and rheumatism, as well as injuries such as strains and tears. Cold gyms are the worst place to try to stretch, and they are should be promoting stretching for their client to avoid injury. Also the repetitive motion of climbing type machines, or bicycles only serves to wear out the joints (knees) and place strain on the lower back. Joints need to be opened and stretched, to create space for the cartilage and discs, allowing synovial fluid space to cushion the joints. In the gym we often compress the joints, lessening this space and storing up problems for the future. Many bodybuilders (don’t forget Bikram was a champion weight lifter!) come to class and notice that their flexibility and mobility is greatly improved, while only benefiting their gym work.

However, a yoga practitioner who has aligned the body can benefit from weight bearing gym work, as they will not be compounding any existing problems. In the gym if you are shortening muscles and thus tightening joints, I feel it necessary that one would do deep stretching to re-open the body.

With correct instruction, weight lifting, especially with free weights, is a marvelous way of increasing strength, and I am particularly in favour of the “super slow” workout, which is rapidly gaining popularity, as it mimics yoga in a lot of ways as you perform the weight lifts slowly and with complete awareness.

However, most people that take up Bikram yoga realize that no other form of physical exercise in necessary as all the strengthening and stamina benefits of a gym workout are there in the class.

In the class one is using one’s own body weight as the weight. There is no need for extra weights. For example in the Cobra series, one is taught to lift the weight of the legs using the lower spine and upper back strength. The legs are heavy, and thus we are building the exact amount of strength needed to lift out own body weight. This way we build the muscle mass that is correct for our frame/weight, thus not stressing our joints. The muscles stay long and lean and do not get bulky and contracted. The series is a scientifically designed programme to strengthen the whole body, in every direction, using the body weight. We also improve the balance, and strength of the legs by standing on one leg.

7. Leading on from the previous question (which you may have already answered partly) exactly how is Bikram a cardiovascular workout and can it replace high intensity exercise such as running, swimming and cycling? (Please could you quote heart rates here. i.e., on one of the postures you said “your heart rates will leap from ? to ?”)

Yes, the standing series is particularly cardio vascular. Just because you are not running around a track or cycling up a hill does not mean you are not working your heart. One of the postures alone doubles your heart rate from 70 to 140 in 5 seconds (Tula Dandasana –balancing stick pose). Many people are amazed at how their stamina improves. After 10 years of extreme martial arts I thought I was very fit, but my ego was really brought down to size when I first did Bikram yoga! Although Bikram Yoga is not just a workout, those wishing to take up something that will take care of their cardio vascular system should come and see for themselves!

As a beginner we are usually only working 20% of our bodies in class. As we progress we get stronger and learn how to use more and more of our body. In time we will be able to use 100% of our body, strength and effort in class and we will be burning more fat, calories, and using and improving 100% of our bodies.

8. I spoke to several people after the class who have been ‘converted’ by Bikram, and who gladly gave up their gym memberships to do Bikram more regularly. I can see why Bikram is a much more satisfying way to unwind and get fit than going to the gym to jump up and down on a step for 30 minutes. Do you think more people will be doing Yoga – or more precisely Bikram – than ‘workouts’ in the gym in the next 20 years? How can you see Bikram expanding across Britain?

Of course the gym will always have its devotees, but as the wisdom of yoga reaches more people, and as it loses its “hippy” tag, and people realizes that it is nothing mysterious and give it a try, Yoga will continue its rise in popularity. Once you take up yoga, one very rarely gives it up, because nothing does what yoga does. It also leads to personal development much faster than many other forms of exercise, as it brings you in touch with yourself, it teaches patience, application, determination, how to continue to stay calm during challenging situations, how to breath, how to be honest, and ultimately how to meditate. It simply makes you a better person! These things are more important than simply getting fit.

To take San Francisco as an example, they have around 50 Bikram studios there, and all are busy.

The several studios that are open in London are just the beginning. It has only been here for 4 years. I predict that within the next five years there will be another 15 in London alone. There is one in Brighton, Salisbury, Jersey, Dublin, and soon arriving in Edinburgh and Manchester. We are the first national network of yoga studios. Bikram has done more to take yoga to the normal person than any other yoga master. We have copycat classes springing up in other yoga centres, gyms and health clubs because they know this is what people want. Bikram will eventually stop these false Bikram classes, but it goes to show that what he is doing is revolutionary in the world of yoga.

9. How many times a week, and for how long, do you need to do Bikram in order to see significant flexibility, strength and cardiovascular improvements?

Everyone is different. The more you do the quicker you see the result. Bikram tells people to do every day for 90 days to achieve a brand new body from bones to skin. Every cell new, new life, new energy, new vitality. Then after that, maintain what you achieved with three times a week practice, or a minimum of 10 times a month. Some people have found an amazing result with every day for 30 days, losing weight and gaining stamina.

For those whose schedule will not allow this, one will make good steady progress with 3-4 times a week practice, and after a month will see and feel the results. The reason we basically give a month of classes for the price of 3 to newcomers, is that even every day or every couple of days for a month shows a remarkable result. But those who can only manage twice a week will still go home feeling totally de-stressed, relaxed and rejuvenated. After all it is better to water a plant occasionally than never!

10. Several techniques in Bikram – and consequently Yoga – have been contraindicated by the fitness industry. For instance, hyper extending the back, locking the knees and elbows, leaning the neck back, and knees over the toes are all encouraged in Bikram; whereas in fitness, trainers are taught to teach ‘soft knees’, ‘soft elbows’, ‘neutral spine’, not to tip the neck back and to keep the knees behind the toes when flexing. What are your views on these quite contrary methods of teaching? Is one right over the other?

I would respectfully disagree with the term “contrary methods of teaching”. The yoga community would call many of the methods of the fitness industry the “contrary” ones! After all the yoga wisdom had been around a lot longer than the fitness industry methods, and many yoga principles have been used to inform many practices today such as Pilates. However there are some important differences in the two schools of thought that need to be taken into account. Yoga is about healing and is therapeutic preventative “medicine”. Fitness training is providing safe, effective ways of improving fitness. Very often it has originated from organizations that needed to protect themselves from being sued by injured clients so opted for a very “safe” way of dealing with clients. Especially where fast movement or weights are concerned a set of rules needed to be applied so that risk of injury was minimized. For example martial arts, where someone could kick you with your knee locked, injuring the knee, or football where a locked knee would be an injury waiting to happen. These are not applicable to a yoga class.

By “knees over toes”, I presume you mean extending the knee forward of the toes so the leg, when bent, is more at 45 degrees instead of 90. This is unsafe. We do not teach this. We teach that the knee should stay over the toes to protect the knee, so we are in agreement there.

I presume by “hyper extending” the back you are talking about back bending? This is the most natural thing in the world and what your spine was designed to do! All this fear and doubt arose because people were afraid of being sued, were teaching in cold rooms, and did not have the wisdom of 5,000 years of knowledge behind them! Once people start back bending they notice that the aches and pains they had for years (from forward bending all day long) disappear! The Bikram series warms the spine up for 75 minutes before any deep backward or forward bending is done. 90% of back injuries occur while forward bending (incorrectly) not backward bending which is the natural way to bend the spine, and keeps all the discs in their natural place, preventing slipped or herniated discs, and relieving pressure on the nerves.

The natural range of the neck is to move backwards, and it is through not doing this regularly that we end up with stiff and immobile necks, headaches, tension etc. Let’s remember that Bikram yoga is yoga therapy, and is designed to heal the body and prevent illness and injury. It is not just an exercise system.

Why do you think the knees and elbows lock? It is the body’s natural range of motion. Countless people will attest to the fact that once they re-learned the natural range of the body, their tendonitis, bursitis, pain, misalignment etc all disappeared. The reason not locking the knee came about during sports etc was in case someone, or a ball, crashed into the knee from the front and smashed it. By locking the knee in Bikram (and other yoga) allows you to activate not only the quadriceps, but also to strengthen the back of the knee which is usually weak and rebalance the knee joint, by strengthening the ligaments. As soon as I learned to lock my (injured) knee, my injury was history.

Fitness trainers are not trying to realign the body and heal injuries. They are helping students learn how to strengthen the body, improve their health, without getting injured. To be able to run, jog and lift weights it is necessary to protect the body and keep it relaxed. In Bikram yoga we are re-aligning misaligned joints, bringing the body back to its natural range of motion, and with the 26 posture series, and the heat, we are in a safe place to do this. By locking the elbow on the floor and lying on it we are gently opening the joint, and allowing the synovial fluid to get in. We are stretching tight ligaments. This posture cures tennis elbow. Obviously if we were doing martial arts of playing tennis we would not be in a safe environment to lock the elbow.

11. Having done a class, my body felt rehabilitated, so I can see how Bikram is highly beneficial for people with soft tissue injuries. What are your personal experiences of seeing clients improve their health, and ‘fix’ injuries?

The yoga is not only for soft tissue injuries; it is also for structural misalignment, even skeletal problems. I saw a lady who was an actual hunchback straighten her spine out by 50% in 3 months. Two of my own students who had abnormal curvature of the upper back (forwards, like a hump) have straightened their spines).

I have student testimonials available.

I have been teaching for nearly 12 years. Apart from my own recovery from needing knee surgery I have see countless numbers of my students, and observed many of Bikram’s students in LA and all over the world heal themselves. With regular practice people have become symptom free from back pain, slipped disc, joint injuries, flat feet, bunions, weak immune system, diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, obesity (several of my students have lost more than 50 pounds) low or high blood pressure, arthritis and rheumatism, chronic lower back pain, frozen shoulder, varicose veins, insomnia, irritable bowel syndrome, to name but a few.

Most of my students with injuries have either back pain, or knee injuries. These are the two most common. They also respond amazingly well to the yoga. Bikram says the back is the easiest thing to fix. He has proved this by becoming the number one yogi for fixing chronic back complaints. Cedar Sinai medical centre send Bikram a percentage of their back surgery patients (who have not yet undergone the surgery) and he fixes their backs. Most back complaints come from, he says, weak back and inflexible back. Easy to fix! Back bending, strengthening, and controlled forward bending and the spine soon heals, pain is gone, mobility is back.

12. Why is one Bikram Yoga Class equivalent to 4 hours’ sleep?

During sleep our bodies’ repairs damage, flushes out waste, de-stresses and relaxes. During Bikram’s 90 minute class the body is brought to the maximum level of rest and relaxation, while also detoxifying and flushing out all systems of the body.

Here is some of what happens;

Muscles are stretched at a cellular, biochemical level. Lipids and proteins reorganize optimally in such stretching allowing for better circulation. Blood and calcium are brought to the bones. The organs of the immune system within the bones (red marrow) are boosted. The lymph nodes are massaged, lymph is pumped throughout the body, and white blood cells are distributed throughout the body. There is compression and extension of the thymus, spleen appendix and intestines, lungs are stretched and flushed out by increased circulation. The endocrine glands are encouraged to secrete appropriate hormones and the communication between the hormones and various glands and systems of the body is perfected. Toxins and waste are eliminated by the appropriate organs of elimination (and during the class this is expedited by the pranayama breathing in which metabolites are eliminated through the exhale, and also through sweating)

The nerves are stimulated by compression and extension, improving communication with the systems of the body and supplying fresh blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout. The brain is stimulated by improved circulation and by varying blood pressure.

You come out of the class feeling rejuvenated and relaxed. Many of the benefits of deep sleep have happened in your body!

13. The downside to Bikram is its lack of venues, especially outside London. Can followers of Bikram turn up the heat in their bedroom/bathroom, or wherever, and practice there? Exactly what temperature, and environment, does Bikram need to be practiced in? (For example, if you lived in the blistering heat and humidity of Brisbane, Australia, would you get the same benefits practicing there as you would in a heated room?)

Many of my students began practicing from the book and the tape in their own homes. It is better to turn up the heat, get a portable heater and/or take a hot bath or shower before starting, but even if this is not possible, the series alone, even without the heat is what it is all about. Students practicing this way will just push less hard than they would in a heated room. The optimal heat is around 105 degrees. The first postures are designed to get you hot right away, even in an unheated room. The Pranayama breathing and half Moon Pose with Padahastasana Pose, will get you sweating regardless of where you are!

The press have misrepresented Bikram Yoga by just talking about the heat as if it is some sort of gimmick. It is there to support your practise, but it is not the practice itself. What is remarkable about Bikram Yoga is not the heat, but the scientifically designed series, that, in my opinion, is unsurpassed by any other physical discipline, in providing total health, wellbeing and maintenance to the body.

Yes practicing in a hot country is much easier than a cold one without added heat. Yoga is from India, not the arctic! Although hot countries have almost the right heat, one needs to be in the shade (thus reducing the heat) and a mirror is most beneficial so you can check your alignment. Thus even in a hot country one often needs to raise the temperature a bit.

If practicing from the book and tape, it is still advisable to get to a class with a certified instructor as often as you can to be given help, adjustments and pointers.

14. There has been a lot of mention in the press about Bikram franchising his brand of yoga and pursuing those who break his ‘rules” by taking them to court. Is this not against the spirit of yoga?

This is also a misconception about Bikram Yoga. Bikram has not to date franchised his yoga. Bikram has never taken one penny from any of the several hundred Bikram studios worldwide. He lets us use his name, teach his yoga, use his principles, and has never taken any money for it. This is his spirit. Hopefully (and I say hopefully, as it is us, the teachers and studio owners who have asked him to do the franchise) the franchise will come into effect soon. This is to protect the public, and the studio owners and teachers, from people who want to cash in on the success of this yoga, teach it without being certified, use the Bikram name but teach a barstardised version of it, or alter the series and teach it incorrectly. Bikram needs to protect his name, so that the public knows that they will get certain high standards when they go to an affiliated studio. I have personally lobbied for this franchise and have been privy to some of the franchise terms, and believe me, I know that Bikram is not doing this for any financial reasons. It has cost him more to put the terms together than he will make from the franchise fees. These fees will be the lowest possible franchise fees, and will barely cover the legal costs.

Bikram does not chase people who are doing things without his permission or against his affiliation agreement. He always tries to get them to stop in the nicest way first. All he asks is that “if you use my name, tech my yoga. If you change my yoga, don’t use my name.” If someone is not holding to this, he will ask them to stop. If all else fails, only then has legal intervention been needed, and this is very rare. Actually the 2 recent legal cases were not brought by Bikram. They were brought by studios who wanted to use the name and teach it their own way. They brought the cases against Bikram, challenging his right to copyright his name and series, and on both counts, the courts ruled in Bikram’s favour. These people are against the spirit of yoga, not Bikram, who was only defending his yoga and name.

15. Bikram as a person is quite controversial. He has been described as rude and arrogant. Why do you think this is?

Some people have the misconception that being “spiritual” somehow means you have to be weak, a bit vague, smiling and accepting of everything that happens and they criticize Bikram and his yoga for being too aggressive. Being Spiritual also means being willing to stand up for what is wrong, not being afraid to say the truth, and being brave in the face of difficulty. These are all qualities Bikram has, and so does the yoga. I have heard Bikram say to newcomers sometimes “what are you? A man or a mouse?” when they are having difficulty, trying to give up. He steers us towards our strengths. He teaches us not to be afraid, not to collapse when things are tough. He is also the most generous, forgiving, truthful and insightful person I have ever met. What the public (and press) see is the part of his personality that can motivate the Hollywood crowd, the stars, the person who has never exercised before, the person with chronic medical problems, with injuries and pain. That is why he teaches the way he does, he brushes away all the weakness, self pity and reticence. He makes you laugh, and sometimes groan, but always takes you beyond your limitations. No, he does not sit cross legged silently, smiling and telling you how good you are. He busts your ass! He is doing this because he loves you, because he really cares about your health, because he is not afraid to tell you the truth.

Another reason he has been misrepresented in the press is that he has no desire to self promote, and tends not to do so in interviews. He wants to promote yoga. He has singlehandedly brought yoga to millions of people who may never have tried it otherwise. He has achieved more than most yogis. The downside is that he has not told the press that he has never taken a penny from any of his studios, that he had to be persuaded to start the franchise by his teachers, that he organized the first Yoga Expo in Los Angeles in order to bring teachers of all the styles together in a spirit of unity, that the Yoga Championships (which he has helped organize) are not about competition, but about bringing unity between yoga styles and helping take yoga to the masses. Bikram is trying to change the world, for the good, using yoga as a tool for individual and social change. He has an Aids programme in northern California, is building a health and healing centre in India, is working with scientists to develop a breast cancer screening technology that will save thousands of lives. Here is someone committed to doing great good in the world, and has done more than most of us, and it gets tiresome hearing the moans of the disgruntled few, who perhaps feeling threatened by the success of this yoga, like to try to put it down.

Those of us that know him well, and know that his private personality is one of generosity, love, huge humour and fun, as well as deep concern for the state of the world, all love him dearly. You will never see loyalty such as that from his teachers to him and him to them. This is not like a business. We are like a family.

16. Some people criticize Bikram yoga saying it is not “spiritual”

In the West, there is a common misconception about yoga in itself being a spiritual practice. In India hatha (hatha means physical) yoga is taught as a beginning stage, a preparatory stage for more advanced spiritual practices. It is a way of preparing the body for sitting in meditation, for purifying the grosser aspects of the body, for integration of the breath, body, mind and emotions, for aligning the body and preparing the "root system" so to speak, so that spiritual practice has a solid foundation. After all, the spiritual process happens in this body we have been given and it needs to be rightly aligned. Bikram is one of the few real Indian yoga gurus teaching in the West. He teaches true Indian Hatha yoga. It has not been watered down for the West, as many yoga styles have. It has not been changed by western teachers for Western students. This is the real deal, and when you practice yoga with an Indian guru you will notice how different it is to many of western yoga classes!

What many people do not realize is that Karma Yoga (which is what Bikram Yoga is) is a form of yoga that does teach spirituality using the body as a vehicle. It is a way of integrating the person, the being in other words in an organic natural way, and also through the use of Work, or Seva, (the yoga is hard work!) as a way of surrendering the body, breath, mind, and emotion through physical surrender. This aspect of the practice does not happen in one or two lessons. It is a process that takes time to mature, and at first, yes, it does seem purely physical, while the body is brought to a place of equilibrium, non-toxicity and freedom from pain. But after this initial, difficult stage, one can begin to forget the body and begin the surrender of attention, of mind, into breath and fall into the place of non-mind, of peace, of meditation in motion.

I originally started Bikram Yoga to heal my knees of needing double knee surgery, (I am pleased to say it worked amazingly well and I avoided the surgery altogether). However, even though I was not looking to yoga to provide me with a spiritual path (I already had a guru and a path I was committed to) after about a year I realized all the incredible changes that had taken place in me through the yoga, including ability to surrender, both to challenging situations, and in my spiritual practice, spiritual connection to my breath, and the world that that opens up in oneself, commitment, integrity, honesty and acceptance-which is something a physical practice brings out in one, firstly through the body and then in other areas of life. These changes have grown to the point now where I, and other more mature practitioners have confirmed, go into that room, drop the mind, the ego, the personality, and go into a meditative state for 90 minutes.

I won't bore you with all the many ways that a physical, hatha yoga practice can open doors into spirituality, but with Bikram Yoga, the spirituality is not preached to you verbally, it is not used as a selling or marketing technique. What I find most offensive about many yoga studios who use the incense, chanting and buddha statues to "market" their yoga, is that this is a bastardization and commercialization of spirituality for commercial gain, and it is not a method we would ever use.

The mind does need to be surrendered, but from my experience this does not happen by having the mind preached to. It happens by letting go of the whole affair of mind, by surrendering to something greater. In this case the breath, and further down the line, full feeling surrender of body, breath, emotion and mind. Bikram wants the yoga to be confronting! The lights, the mirrors, the heat, the teachers dialogue the difficulty of the yoga...this is all part of the Karma Yoga...it confronts the ego, and by doing so, with correct understanding and commitment, this results in a letting go of the ego and the incredible freedom that this brings.

Many people confuse the sales pitch of yoga studios (the chanting a few words at the end, the long sleep at the end, the sitting cross legged,) for real spirituality. There is nothing at all wrong with practicing these things, and they can be very useful, but to say that this is being “spiritual”, is misleading. Real spiritual practice requires something of you, it requires you to give something up, to surrender, to go through your limitations, often to go through purification and difficulty, to change your act, to re-pattern your whole being, including the body which must be purified and brought into a state of ease. This is not a message many people want to hear. They want the consoling message of "if you do a few simple things, if you believe certain things, wear some beads, chant some sanskrit, you can call yourself spiritual". No - Bikram Yoga will not offer this. I am proud to say this, and I think this is why it is the most popular yoga today with 800 studios worldwide. It allows people to access their spirituality, if they are open to it, - or not, if they are not open to it, without them feeling they have to buy in to any particular religion. If someone with their own spiritual practice comes to the yoga, they will find that they are still getting many benefits other than the physical, which may support or even enhance their own spiritual practice without challenging it in a religious sense. We are proud of the diversity of our students, not just in age, ethnic background, fitness level, sex, but also religious background. We have Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews and atheists. That is the beauty of yoga.

Some people have the misconception that being “spiritual” somehow means you have to be weak, a bit vague, smiling and accepting of everything that happens and they criticize Bikram and his yoga for being too aggressive. Being Spiritual also means being willing to stand up for what is wrong, not being afraid to say the truth, and being brave in the face of difficulty. These are all qualities Bikram has, and so does the yoga. I have heard Bikram say to newcomers sometimes “what are you? A man or a mouse?” when they are having difficulty, trying to give up. He steers us towards out strengths. He teaches us not to be afraid, not to collapse when things are tough. It has helped me so much. He is also the most generous, forgiving, truthful and insightful person I have ever met. He uses the part of his personality that can motivate the Holywood crowd, the person who has never exercised before, the person with chronic medical problems, with injuries and pain. That is why he teaches the way he does, he brishes away all the weakness, self pity and reticence. He makes you laugh, and sometimes groan, but always he takes you beyond your limitations. No, he does not sit cross legged silently, telling you how good you are and chanting. He busts your ass! He is doing this because he loves you, because he really cares about your health, because he is not afraid to tell you the truth.

It is confronting, difficult and a little overwhelming the first few times. This passes, and more is revealed. I am sure you know that no practice, not even one that might be obviously 'spiritual" can be judged without really putting it to the test in one's own life. Much of the criticism of the yoga has come from people who have only done one class..or none!

I practiced a form of yoga that claimed to a more 'spiritual"
style for 2 years to put it to the test. Although I enjoyed aspects of it, the spiritual words and practices soon revealed their superficiality, and I left after 2 years realizing that nothing more profound than physical re-alignment was going on.

Bikram Yoga is not what it seems at first glance. It is something that takes a few months of serious practice for the deeper levels to be revealed to you. Every week dozens of students say that they came for a physical reason, and now realize that it is so much more, they are better people, more
compassionate, less angry, more in touch with their inner peace, love, self acceptance and acceptance of others.


17. Bikram has been accused of trying to copyright the yoga postures. If these are thousands of years old how can he claim to own them?

This is another misconception that has arisen through lazy journalism. If any one had taken the time to call Bikram or any of his studios they would have learned that all Bikram has done is copyrighted his name, and the sequence of the postures. Not the postures themselves. Just as a composer copyrights his song, or a choreographer copyrights his ballet, it is about the sequence, not the yoga postures, the musical notes, or the dance moves individually that are in question.

Bikram’s series is so effective due to the years of work, research, medical testing, and knowledge passed from Bikram’s gurus to him, and from his years of hard work and study and application, that makes it so special. He just wants to protect the public, and his hard working teachers and studio owners, from charlatans, un-certified teachers, and people looking to make a fast buck from his best selling yoga, by using his name, teaching his series or bastardized versions of the series, without doing it right. He is ensuring that the public knows, when they enter a Bikram Yoga studio, anywhere in the world, that they are getting the highest quality instruction, from certified teachers, and getting the 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises taught the right way.

These are classical hatha yoga postures, and have been
taught the same way for thousands of years. This sequence of the postures has phenomenal success in correctly aligning the skeletal and muscular systems of the body. Thousands of people have cured their skeletal problems, bad backs, knees, flat feet, diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and numerous neuro-muscular problems with this series.

18. You gave up a lucrative career as a costume designer to teach this yoga. How come?

It was never my intention to give up my career, which I loved and had worked hard at for years to achieve. However I did feel strongly that people should know that that they could heal themselves, and that in many instances there was an alternative to surgery. Having returned from the USA to London I was dismayed at the general state of yoga here. Although we had some wonderful teachers and a host of styles, we were decades behind the US in terms of facilities and friendly clean centres, and yoga still had that “hippy” vibe that put a lot of people off. Now we have some lovely centres which are helping to change the image of yoga, but I am talking 12 years ago.

In order to keep up my own practice I started practicing in my living room with friends who also had done Bikram Yoga in the America. Soon their friends came, and soon the room was full. I rented a room in a health centre and we practiced there together, just donating a few pounds to cover the cost of the room. Six years later, I was teaching 3 evenings a week after work, and had a large client base. When one of my students Lisa Boohan qualified, we opened a centre just in order to give the students a proper place to practice, with heat, and showers. After a while it became evident that I was not going to be able to look after this business correctly and keep my career going.

When that centre was full, I opened another one with Harvey Collis, one of my students, now a certified teacher. We then opened one in the City, I just responded to a demand. I never intended to do this, it just seemed that people were hungry for something that really worked. Now I have about 25 teachers. I love teaching, and I love helping new teachers find their voices. Other teachers have opened studios in Brighton, Chiswick, Leicester, Manchester, Dublin, and Jersey. Soon there will be one in South London, and another is opening in Fulham.

From India it went to Hawaii, Japan, then to LA, and to London, (via my living room!) It is spreading fast! There are studios in Paris, Hamburg, Berlin, Rome, Italy, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, Amsterdam, Israel, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Colombia, Chile, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Korea, Philipines, Dubai, Canada and Mexico as well as nearly every USA state.

All these people can’t be wrong!

18. Why do you think you are such a popular teacher (I notice your classes are always the most busy) and what do you feel your strengths are?

Well that is hard to answer! I think it takes about 8 years for a teacher to really come into their own. I have been teaching 12 years, and I still feel I am learning all the time. My students are my teachers. I also feel that the longer you practice the yoga the more you develop and understand, and the more you can pass that knowledge to your students. Other than my 15 years of yoga practice, I have 9 years of martial arts practice behind me, and I learned a lot about the body, about adjustments and about injuries through that. I am also a certified massage therapist, and the anatomy and physiology training from that was very useful.

I have also found that the teachers who had the most difficulty learning the yoga become the best teachers. It is something about the memory of how a normal person, or a person with injuries feels when beginning a yoga practice. If the students feel you are with them, feel for them, understand what they are going through, they trust you and will work for you, with you. I was not naturally good at this yoga. I had many injuries from my martial arts career. If you have healed an injury yourself, you can help someone else heal their injury too. That is why I love helping people with knee injuries. I know how hard it is.

Also I had the benefit of living in LA and studying first hand with Bikram himself for nearly 4 years. I saw how he took me through the healing of my own injury and I got to watch him teach and deal with all sorts of things, all sorts of people.

But mostly I think my popularity may be due to the fact that I do not think you can tell anyone anything. I think you have to create an environment where you help the student find out for themselves. There is a big difference between saying “Do this” and “Try this”. I try to encourage them to try things, see if it works for them. If not, I enjoy trying to find out what works for that person. The origin of the word “educate” is “educe” to bring out. This is my philosophy, to bring out of the students, not to put in. I try to inspire them by showing how fun it is to learn, to experiment, how exciting this miraculous process is and not to be put off by difficulty. Really I feel that God is at work here, we put an environment in place, we remove the obstacles to healing, and we give the body the right environment, and the healing always takes place. Always. If it doesn’t it is just that we did not notice the obstacle yet. Maybe it is a mental obstacle, maybe physical but it is always an adventure to find out.

I am particularly interested in working with people who have difficulties, especially back and knee problems. I try to help people get free of their fear. We all have fear of our bodies…after all they are going to die! So I try to emulate what Bikram does so well, which is to show that the body is strong, resilient, full of love, force, intensity. It need not be feared. Remove the fear accept it, move on from it and healing can begin. In being courageous through the body and working with our difficulties, we can be courageous in life.

19. Who are the most challenging students to teach?

It is never a physical reason, it is always a mental reason. The body is easy, it is the mind that is the rascal! Sometimes practitioners of other yoga styles can be challenging to teach. Although we have many students and teachers of other styles who are wonderful students, occasionally one will come in with their own agenda. You are very aware as a teacher when someone is not listening to you, and just doing their own thing, like a robot that has been programmed. It is as if a door is closed on you. Sometimes people with previous experience find it difficult to stay in the moment and do things a new way. Usually they come around and see the usefulness of being open and enjoy what this has to offer, but the first couple of times you teach them can be difficult. I try to find a way in, to interest them, to break their pattern. Humour is a useful tool, and usually brings someone out of themselves. People get so serious about yoga!

The second is when you come across someone who mentally has no desire to come up against themselves. You can see it in their eyes, they do not want to be challenged. We all have this to some extent but in some people it is at a point where it can stop them growing, improving their lives. This is a very confrontational practice. Things about yourself get revealed, and they are not always consoling! It is a very artful process to deal with this in someone who has not learned how to deal with it themselves. It is very often the people who need the yoga the most that find it the most difficult. Sometimes they try to walk out, and if I manage to get them to stay, and I see them in class a few weeks later looking well and happy, it makes me so happy too. It is what makes it all worthwhile.