Bikram Yoga

Ghosh teaching and the 1970 class

An article in the Journal of Yoga Studies by Jerome Armstrong dates the standing and floor series of Bikram Yoga to 1970, when Bikram Choudhury, a student of the Calcutta teacher Bishnu Charan Ghosh, was living in Tokyo. Armstrong traces the floor series to a 1961 book by Ghosh and the standing series to demanding exercises Choudhury learned at Ghosh's College of Physical Education in the early 1960s. Ghosh died in July 1970.

Armstrong reports that Ghosh taught students one at a time and that other students of Ghosh contradict Choudhury's own claim to have devised a one-size-fits-all class with Ghosh's blessing. The Ghosh Yoga lineage organization likewise describes Ghosh's method as individualized and therapeutic, and contrasts it with the same 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises given to everyone in the Bikram beginning class.

Arrival in the United States and spread

The World Religions and Spirituality Project entry on the practice states that Choudhury moved to the United States in the early 1970s and opened the Yoga College of India in Beverly Hills, California. It notes that details of his early life come largely from his own accounts. The entry reports three locations in 1973 and several hundred studios by the early 2000s, with franchise-style studios and teacher certification driving growth. A 2015 review counted over 600 studios worldwide.

Later names and trademark history

Armstrong notes that the sequence is now taught under many different names, as a 90-minute or 60-minute class, and sometimes with induced heat and sometimes without. The sources reviewed do not document individual studio names. The World Religions and Spirituality Project entry states that Choudhury obtained trademarks for his style and related products, and that the sequence of poses itself was not granted copyright protection.

Bikram Yoga and hot yoga

The World Religions and Spirituality Project describes hot yoga as a general term for yoga practiced in a heated space and Bikram Yoga as one specific, highly structured form of it. A 2025 systematic review defines hot yoga as yoga performed at 25 degrees Celsius or higher and found that Bikram Yoga accounted for 74 percent of the 43 studies it included. Broader heated-yoga research is covered on the Machipedia page Hot Yoga.

How the 26 is counted

Sources count the sequence in different ways. Hewett and colleagues describe 26 postures plus two breathing exercises, the World Religions and Spirituality Project describes 26 asanas and two pranayama, and Armstrong describes twelve standing exercises and fourteen floor exercises with an opening and closing breathing exercise. The Ghosh Yoga organization calls the same class the Beginning Class. Breathing practices are described on the Machipedia page Pranayama.

Relation to other yoga pages

The practice is described as a form of hatha yoga with a fixed class script. Hewett and colleagues name three features that set it apart from other hatha yoga: the unchanging sequence, the heated room and a scripted instructional dialogue. Bikram Yoga is a member of the family described on the Machipedia page Yoga Styles. Hatha Yoga and Yoga describe the wider tradition from which the sequence draws.

Structure of a class

Hewett and colleagues describe a class of about 90 minutes. It opens with standing breathing exercises and continues with standing postures for roughly 45 to 50 minutes, a rest of about two minutes in corpse pose, then floor postures for roughly 35 to 40 minutes with about 20 seconds of rest between postures. The class closes with a seated forceful-exhalation breathing exercise and a final rest.

The heated room

The same review gives the usual room conditions as about 40.6 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit) with 40 percent humidity. The World Religions and Spirituality Project adds that studios are carpeted and that classes are held without music, and describes studio temperatures from roughly 90 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Armstrong observes that some classes use the sequence without induced heat.

Teaching and certification

According to the World Religions and Spirituality Project, Choudhury has said he certified more than 11,000 teachers, and certification of teachers has accompanied the spread of studios. The sources reviewed do not describe a national or professional register for Bikram teachers, and no training standard from an independent professional body was found.

Heat and muscle preparation

Choudhury is cited by Hewett and colleagues as saying that the heat warms the body for movement and helps remove impurities, and the World Religions and Spirituality Project reports his view that heat warms muscles more quickly and helps students perform the poses. The 2015 review does not evaluate the claim about impurities, and no source reviewed here tests it.

Therapeutic framing in the Ghosh lineage

The Ghosh Yoga organization describes the lineage as aiming at health in the body and stillness in the mind, using therapeutic exercises, postures, breathing and meditation selected for each student. It places Bikram Yoga within that lineage while noting that the fixed class differs from the original individualized approach. These are statements of the lineage organization, not findings from trials.

Reviews of the literature

A 2015 critical review by Hewett and colleagues found one randomized trial of 21 adults over 8 weeks, two non-randomized controlled trials, two uncontrolled trials and a handful of cross-sectional and acute studies. Improvements were reported mainly for lower-body strength, range of motion and balance in healthy adults. Bone density results were mixed, and body composition and blood pressure showed no consistent change. The authors call for larger randomized trials, and the first author discloses co-ownership of a Bikram studio.

A 2025 systematic review of hot yoga covered 43 studies and 942 participants, mostly female, with samples averaging about 20 people. The authors describe the evidence as promising but inconclusive for most outcomes and state that claims of superiority over non-heated yoga or other exercise are unsubstantiated. Only 30 percent of acute studies used a non-heated control. See the Machipedia page Hot Yoga for the wider heated-yoga evidence.

Randomized trials on cardiovascular outcomes

In a 16-week trial, 63 stressed, sedentary adults analyzed after randomization were assigned to Bikram classes at 40 degrees Celsius or to a no-treatment control. The primary outcome, heart rate variability, did not differ between groups, and neither did the secondary cardiovascular and body composition outcomes. Attendance averaged 27 of a possible 80 classes, which the authors say likely contributed to the null result. Exploratory associations with higher attendance were not randomized comparisons.

A 12-week trial in 52 sedentary adults aged 40 to 60 compared Bikram yoga at 40.5 degrees Celsius, the same sequence at 23 degrees Celsius, and a control group. Flow-mediated dilation of the brachial artery rose significantly in the room-temperature group and showed a nonsignificant trend in the heated group, with no significant between-group differences. The authors concluded that the postures improved vascular function without a heated room. This record was read at abstract level only.

Randomized trials on mood and pain

An 8-week trial in 53 women with depression compared Bikram yoga, aerobic exercise and a waitlist. About 60 percent in each active group responded versus 6.7 percent on the waitlist, with reductions in rumination mediating improvement. The authors note a small, female-only and ethnically homogeneous sample. The abstract was the part read for this page.

A pilot randomized trial in women with persistent pain and a history of trauma compared 8 weeks of Bikram classes with high intensity interval training in 32 analyzed participants. Pain did not differ between groups, attendance averaged 1.3 classes per week against 3 prescribed, and the authors state that the overall pain reduction cannot be attributed to the exercise. They concluded that vigorous exercise appeared feasible for this population.

Heat load

In an observational study of 20 healthy, heat-acclimated regular practitioners, average peak core temperature was 103.2 degrees Fahrenheit in men and 102.0 in women. One man reached 104.1 and seven participants exceeded 103. None showed signs of heat intolerance. The authors state that heat-related illness risk rises around 104 degrees Fahrenheit and suggest shorter classes, a cooler room and attention to early warning signs such as cramps, headache and dizziness.

The 2025 review reports peak core temperatures of about 38.2 to 40.1 degrees Celsius in 90-minute Bikram sessions and notes case reports of sudden cardiac arrest and myocardial infarction. It suggests medical clearance for people with existing conditions, leaving the heat if dizziness or nausea occurs, and building up gradually over the first 7 to 14 sessions.

Fluid and sodium balance

A small feasibility study of five women measured about 1.5 liters of sweat lost in a 90-minute class against about 0.4 liter of water drunk. Serum sodium did not change significantly, but the authors estimated a drop in extracellular fluid volume. Sodium losses were extrapolated from thigh sweat, and the corresponding author owns a company selling electrolyte products.

Hewett and colleagues describe a 34-year-old woman hospitalized with severe low blood sodium after drinking about 3.5 liters of water following her first class, and advise drinking to thirst. They also describe a psychotic episode during teacher training in a man with prior hallucinogen-induced psychosis, and an acute coronary syndrome in a 53-year-old man with no known risk factors. These are single case reports.

Cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and other cautions

Hewett and colleagues recommend medical clearance for people at higher risk, noting greater heart disease risk in men aged 45 or older and women aged 55 or older, especially after a sedentary period. Adverse-event reporting in the trials was sparse. In the 16-week trial, six yoga participants had flare-ups of existing back, foot, knee or calf pain or psychological discomfort, and three of them discontinued.

In the pilot pain trial, one Bikram participant stopped because the exercise triggered their pain. The sources reviewed did not identify injury rates for the practice as a whole. This page does not replace advice from a clinician, and symptoms should not delay or replace necessary care.

Pregnancy

A Canadian Family Physician commentary states that no published studies address the safety of Bikram yoga in pregnancy or its outcomes for the fetus. It cites an earlier meta-analysis in which first-trimester maternal hyperthermia was associated with about double the risk of neural tube defects, a finding that did not come from yoga studies. The authors advise pregnant women to avoid hot yoga, and the 2025 review advises seeking medical advice first.