Your first visit to our
Where does Bikram Yoga come from?
On this page you will learn everything you need to know about Bikram Yoga, get useful tips for beginners and how you can best prepare for your first visit with us.
The roots of yoga
Indian traditional yoga practices and teachings are far more complex than western, modern yoga. Indians looked for the local yogi in case of illness before western medicine came to India.
With his holistic knowledge he would then prescribe diets, colonics, herbal teas and also some yoga exercises.
The very ascetic yogis didn’t take any money for their help but transmitted their knowledge for food and accommodation and attended the sick at their homes until full recovery.
Yoga’s way to the Western World
When British and American tourism developed in India in the 19th century, the fascination for yogis started to grow, who sometimes exhibited their supranatural powers at festivities. Then in the 1960s, news went around the world that there was a yogi in India who could cure arthritis.
During the 20s, Hollywood looked for muscular actors for films like “The Ten Commandments” (1923) and “Ben Hur” (1925). They invited the great Yogi Paramahansa Yogananda to California. With his collaboration they developed tools and dumbbells which founded modern Bodybuilding (Muscle Beach Santa Monica).
Paramahansa Yogananda died in 1952 in California. He founded the Self-Realization Fellowship and wrote the famous book “Autobiography of a Yogi”.
At an official banquet with the Indian Ambassador he attained Mahasamadhi (conscious leaving of the body) making him world-famous.
From Paramahansa Yogananda to Bikram Choudhury
The younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda, Bishnu Gosh, took over the equipment of his brother from California and in 1930 founded the Bishnu Ghosh College of Yoga and Physical Culture in Calcutta.
His most successful student was Bikram Choudhury, who began his training at the age of 5 and won the National India Yoga Championship three times as a teenager.
At the age of 20, he suffered a serious accident while weight lifting. The prognosis for his knee was that he would never walk again. With the help of Bishnu Ghosh and yoga exercises, he managed to heal his knee in just 6 months.
Deeply impressed by this miracle, Bikram dedicated his life to yoga. He visited Bishnu Ghosh's patients and taught them the prescribed yoga exercises. In order to work more efficiently, he began giving group classes. However, since he had to address various health problems in a group setting, the usual seven exercises were no longer sufficient.
Origin of Bikram Yoga
Little by little, a series of 26 exercises was developed that helped with countless health problems, especially arthritis. In the 1960s, news spread around the world that there was a yogi in India who could cure arthritis.
The wife of the then American ambassador in Tokyo became seriously ill with arthritis and the ambassador called Bikram to Tokyo. It was an extremely cold February and Bikram was initially unable to help the woman as she could hardly move in the low temperatures inside the Japanese paper walls. She finally brought a small gas heater with her and, lo and behold, it worked even in the cold Japanese winter. Thus the connection between yoga and heat was recognized and Bikram Hot Yoga was born.
Shirley McLaine was in Tokyo at the time to film “My Geisha”. She followed the ambassador to train with the Indian master and recognized the power of Bikram Yoga.
When former President Nixon was in Honolulu in 1972 and was suffering from advanced thrombophlebitis, Bikram was recommended to him. Bikram was invited to Honolulu and managed to heal the President in just 3 days. As a gift, Bikram received a work visa for America so that he could spread his knowledge in the United States.
Shirley McLaine helped him open his first small studio in Hollywood. For years he was considered an insider tip among many Hollywood stars. Bikram perfected his series of 26 exercises to heal the entire body of young and old. Since then, Bikram has taught his series for over 40 years, passing on happiness and health to millions of people.
With many studios, Bikram Yoga Zurich is one of the most sustainable and popular yoga styles in the world. The original Bikram Yoga has been practiced at Grüngasse 21 since 2004.
