Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class

by Bonnie Jones Reynolds, Bikram Choudhury

Sweat, strain, laugh, and do more for your health, body, and general well-being than you even imagined possible as you take your beginning yoga class from Bikram. For more than twenty years, Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class has been among the preeminent and most beloved of all yoga guides-and now it has been revised and updated by Bikram, with virtually all-new photographs and an updated section on yoga's medical benefits.

With nearly two hundred vivid instructional photographs, Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class is the perfect guidebook for any student of yoga, either advanced or beginner-a reference that makes Hatha yoga fun, easy, and completely understandable.

Illustrated throughout with 160 black-and-white photographs by Biswanath "Bisu" Ghosh

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Health, Self Help, Fitness, Spirituality

205 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started doing "Bikram yoga" several times a week a few months ago, and got this book to gain more instruction on how to attempt different poses. This is what it claims to be: a beginner's guide to the unique sequence of yoga postures that Bikram Choudhury has been teaching in Los Angeles since the seventies. I did find many of the tips in this book to be helpful and gained a better understanding of why these particular postures were chosen and put in this particular order. It was also helpful to learn the purpose of each pose, as it motivates me to do them properly in order to receive the intended benefit (increasing flexibility in the hip joints, strengthening the knees, etc.)

HOWEVER... the book could be so much better. First, the photos are terrible. They're all black-and-white, fuzzy, and show figures floating in space. The photo you see on the cover is the only modern, color photo in the entire book. Most of the ones used are 30 years old or older. Why?! Would it be too much trouble to include some decent photos? Second, the book is twice as long as it needs to be because it's filled with a bizarre monologue of Bikram speaking to his students during a fictional class. Apparently his English is horrible and he thinks he's a stand-up comedian. It's irritating and adds nothing to the reader's understanding of the yoga practice. He also claims repeatedly that students should be able to do each pose after just a few weeks of trying (untrue, I assure you) and that practicing his yoga sequence will prevent or cure just about any physical or mental problem a person might have (slightly far-fetched).

The more recent book, "Bikram Yoga" contains the same information without the clutter, has better photos, and adds some commentary about yoga in general. I'd recommend that one instead.

[Melissa Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! I just started doing Bikram yoga and bough this book to assist me in understanding the postures. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I liked the chatty style of the book. It is supposed to make you feel like you're right there in class and, for me, it did just that. It is obvious from the similarity in style of my various instructors that Bikram wants his teachers to say certain things in a certain way. (Anyone who has been doing Bikram will probably know what I mean). This book confirms that. The postures are clearly described and pictured - as well as common problems and mistakes. The only problem with the book is the quality of the pictures. While the postures are clear, the pictures could be sharper, more in focus, etc. It IS nice to see a variety of ages and body types though in the real life models! Very refreshing! A must-read for any Bikram devotee.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains and instructs students on how to perform the 26 pose in Bikram's Hatha Yoga program. This curriculum of his has become a standard among hot yoga schools in the United States, having the reputation of helping to alleviate all manner of chronic health problems and to promote strength and well being. I found this book to be useful in helping cement my understanding of the sequence and basics of these postures and to augment what I've been hearing in classes about each pose for the last year or so.

Many of the specific ailments it is supposedly able to help are mentioned throughout the book, however this is meant to help students perform the postures not present a body of research into the medical benefits of yoga. One's expectations should be tempered when hearing enthusiastic students claim to have gone from the extreme of being brought to class on a stretcher and now astounding their doctors by being in better health than ever. This book isn't replete with those kinds of statements, but they do occur occasionally.

Each of the 26 postures is studied in its own chapter. They are then segmented into steps and photographs are supplied for each portion of the posture. An added benefit here is that each segmented posture is shown from two perspectives: the "ideal" execution and the way the pose will probably look when starting out for the first time. The instructions on how to do each segment are then tailored to each of those perspectives, providing further encouragement and tips for new students. The beginning of each chapter has a nice little classroom narrative related to the posture and is written in a way to instruct and to make you laugh at the quirkiness of Bikram. The chapter then concludes with class notes from a specific student who may have a story to tell or a tip to relay.

I felt this book was both thorough and extremely helpful. Through it I was able to finally commit the sequence to memory and picked up a ton of tips that helped me perform the yoga poses much better than before. I still feel this book should ideally be treated like a reference for students after having gained familiarity with the sequence in a hot yoga studio, but that might not be ideal for everyone. If you live in a climate like I do you can always step out into your garage during midday and you'll have replicated the temperature and humidity level at least.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dug this book out after recently deciding to do some yoga at home to alleviate anxiety. Though the pictures are old and it is corny in places, I did find it to be more thorough regarding each pose than any other book I have seen. I cannot do some of these - scared to even try others - but still a very comprehensive array of poses and good instructions for each. Also, he gives the hope that one day, with practice, most can be achieved.

[Margaret · Rating 1 out of 5]

On the third page Bikram tries to get into the mind of someone attending one of his classes for the first time. This involves noticing how many of the female practitioners aren't wearing panties under their leotards. Also, boners. No thank you.

[Tine! · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Read over the last couple of months before and after actual Bikram yoga classes at my neighborhood dojo (can I call it a dojo? "Dojo, casino...it's all in the mind" - Chop Chop Master Onion of Parappa the Rapper fame). Extremely helpful to read while doing the practice, especially if you don't have the money/the desire to go visit Bikram himself. Regardless of his human failings, he has an extremely good grasp of anatomy and a, yes, quirky sense of humour that will help you lighten and limber up that sweaty bod. Told in a transcript style following the course of one class, as if someone were in the back of the room the whole time with a military-grade waterproof laptop, includes questionably helpful testimonials about each pose, and pictures of people of various body types for each pose. I would rate it higher, but the conversational/quirky style does actually fail in a lot of ways to convey a larger quantity of helpful anatomical information....a combo of reading the founder's book and actually taking the classes over and over (this could apply to any yoga style you are interested in) is synergistically more informative, because each teacher will bring their own knowledge and understanding and let slip little nuggets of suggestion that will make sense to you while in the postures.

[Kathleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is pretty ridiculous. I'm glad that I read it, because I realized that I have been doing the Bikram sit-up wrong for about 6 years now. But other than that...
I don't know why, but the intro to every posture is supposed to be Bikram talking to his students in the class. This is the part that weirded me out. First of all, Bikram alternated from speaking in perfect English to talking in the way a racist might impersonate an Asian person. What is that about? It's perfect English for paragraphs, then all the sudden it's as if Bikram doesn't know that verbs can be modified for past, present, future tenses, etc. The second thing that weirded me out by those intros is that Bikram and his students are having these joking conversations in the classroom. Yeah right! The whole thing is just a vehicle for Bikram to talk about how good yoga is for you and how you have to do it all the time to get the benefits. Fair enough. But I would have preferred that he just said that without the fictionalized class discussions that were really creepy.

[Jordan Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the controversy around the author of this book, who created the Bikram Yoga 26 posture sequence, I've been really enjoying practicing Bikram Yoga. It's quite simply the most balanced sequence of yoga postures I've found. Many will focus too much on hamstring stretches, while neglecting other parts of the body. In the Bikram sequence that's not the case, and after a Bikram class I feel like I've had a well rounded yoga session.

The book itself isn't really what I was hoping it would be. It has a heavy focus on anecdotes that usually sound like they are trying to convince the reader of something and to adopt a certain mindset. I was hoping it would be more focused on alignment and in depth posture descriptions beyond what I hear the instructors say in class. But the descriptions of the postures were more surface level that what I wanted. It was still helpful, but not as helpful as I was hoping.

[Maria Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its not only my point of view that the Yogiraj,Bikram Choudhury's 26 Yoga posture are some of the good inventions of him.It helped many people to recover from their problems both mentally amd physically.His yoga helped me to remain in healthy from the past 2 years. He is really a good master.
Have a look on this..
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http://www.abc6.com/story/26008919/bi...
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[Desiree · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst yoga book ever. It was written terribly, and the delivery felt forced and insincere. I am sure there are plenty of other books that better describe Bikram's theory. This one was just a massage to his ego, and made me hate him. Even though I really do enjoy hot yoga.

[Frances Kantner · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has terrible photos, strange narrative that was trying to be funny, but was not. I have tried to read this twice, but saw no reason to finish.

[Ayesha Ratnayake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book introduces yoga in a playful manner, complete with banter with your pithy Indian instructor, teasing urgings to keep pushing at the especially tricky points and photos of people who are clearly circus acrobats pretending to be yoga students. You get the sense that you are really a part of this yoga class and you'd do well to at least try and meet the expectations of your demanding and quirky facilitator!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is very well written. Attempting to follow a book through 90 minutes of yoga, however, is significantly more unpleasant than I ever anticipated. It would be better as a supplement to a class. The emphasis on not eating within 3 hours before completing the sequence just left me starving and tired for the day, so the absolute opposite of what I expected.

[Elisabeteik · Rating 2 out of 5]

A regular at hot vinyasa for several years, read this as I deepen my practice. The book gives some helpful tips on the postures but overall it is not a good book. The photos are poor quality, the layout is unnecessarily complicated and Bikram's rants introducing each posture are unpleasant and completely unhelpful for the reader and do no service to yoga in general.

[Flowers4Algernon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Useful for the asanas but the book and photos are of very poor quality and I found some of the dialogue appalling. Not sure how this edition is still in print really.

[Lemon]

😬

[Robbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Die for 90 minutes so you can live for 90 years," is one piece of dialogue BC teaches in his enormous yoga training classes. Bikram yoga is intense, I call it "Type A Yoga." I did Bikram style yoga for several years before reading this book.

The book had a few tips I hadn't heard, and also some charming anecdotes. I can't imagine the technical details about the 26 "patented" Bikram yoga poses would be useful if you hadn't already taken Bikram classes.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gah, some of the poses are hard but I'm getting there! I re-read this a couple of times in the past six to seven years now haha

[Mary Lopez · Rating 1 out of 5]

No puedo dejar de mencionar, lo molesto que resulto leer al autor durante todo el libro, prácticamente desvariar, si bien es cierto también dice muchas verdades, creo que esto queda opacado por su complejo de Dios y su sentimiento de superioridad, el cual intenta esconder bajo espiritualidad bastante mediocre. Aun así, se puede extraer, algunas correcciones a las asanas clásicas de esta sucesión de yoga, que por cierto resultan muy curativas, lastima no se le de total crédito a quien verdaderamente las puso en orden, para que su practica fuese el camino hacia la sanación corporal.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

not only is there good info for all the postures for those of us (especially beginners) who can't catch everything in the dialogue during class, but there are a number of asides from students that are quite revealing and motivational. to do this kind of yoga regularly, it really does take some motivation at times. lots of good pictures of how the poses should look, and how they're more likely to look for your first several weeks/months/years.

also, bikram is hilarious. i laughed out loud a lot while reading this book.

the biggest problem i have with this book, and with the dialogue in the class in general is that it doesn't typically take different body types into account, such as large-chested women or heavier folks. there isn't a whole lot of help for people who have trouble in head-to-knee postures because of stomach or bosom getting in the way, for example, as well as the REAL and safe way to "lock" your knees (not the definition we're used to in the US). you're usually told just to try as hard as you can to get near the pose, rather than modifying it temporarily so that you're able to better get the benefits. this is something you'll have to be conscious of, to feel out for yourself while in class and to discuss with your instructor.

also, the book and the class dialogue tend to sound like adamant advertisements for the practice of bikram yoga. it winds up sounding a bit like a very determined infomercial. don't let yourself be discouraged by the cheesy motivational talk, it really is good stuff and very much worth the time and hard work.

[Angelina David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Myself Angelina David, one of the followers of Bikram choudhury's Book and obviously him's too.It had been 1 years ago I started to concentrate on the yoga by Bikram Choudhury and I was feeling proud that I am one of the students of him .But When I got transfer in some another branch under the same company where i am working for a long time, I was in a dilemma as there was a chance to pause my classes.So I directly consulted him to sort it out and there he really surprised me by giving his own yoga videos and Book .With the help of that Now i am fit enough to do my work with a greater zeal.Thanks to him.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a newbie to Bikram yoga, this is really helpful. I enjoyed looking at the poses and how they are supposed to look. I also really enjoy the ideal/realistic versions of the postures for a new person. As someone who really, really struggles in certain postures (Fixed Firm Pose and Triangle Pose, I'm looking at you), it's nice to see how I should be making slight modifications until my body is ready to fully go into those poses.

Bikram is pretty funny, as well, although I think I'd be waaaaay too intimidated to go to a class that he runs!

[Chava · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text is all but useless, but the book works very well as a visual reference. I took Bikram classes a few years ago and found that the poses in the book were precisely the ones done in class; even the instructors' guidance and prompts are found here. It is thus in the entire Bikram yoga cartel/factory.

Nevertheless, I can only do asanas at home that I have actually done in a class setting and therefore am glad to have the book. (The impossibly overheated room makes little sense to me so I ignore that part.)

[Azlin Bloor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this book in 1995 and have been hooked on Bikram's Yoga since then. While I have a few of his other books, this is the one I find the most indispensable. Its details in how to perform each pose are amazing! Not only does he provide you with step by step (and half steps!), he also gives you a "reality" version, i.e., as a beginner what you are probably going to be doing! This is extremely helpful as he then advises you on what you need to do to progress.
Couldn't recommend it more!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

the suggestive yoga pose photos in this book are hilarious but the message behind them is extremely useful. Spurred on by several dedicated bikram students, I started my foray into bikram yoga through this book. Its very good at describing each pose in both the ideal form and the expected beginner form and how to get into each position, what to concentrate on etc. Id recommend this book to anyone interested in starting yoga outside of a class, or those doing research on 1970s leotards.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is not much to say about this book because if you know Bikram and Bikram Yoga, you know what to expect. This book is written exactly as Bikram holds his own classes. I really enjoyed reading it because you can actually hear him talk as you read some of the paragraphs.

What I was missing was a little bit more of the science and medicine behind it, but I guess it adds to the fascination if it is not analyzed to the last asana :-)

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bikram seems like a bit of a nutter and this book is filled with A LOT of extra stuff about the people in the class and their personal lives that I could have done without. But, I wanted to read the book to see if I was doing the poses correctly and to try to understand how the poses would help me in the long run. In this, the book succeeded. I think it will be a good reference guide for me in the future if I ever forget or want to check proper posture.

[Lisa Stefanik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Given my new obsession with hot yoga, this book was worth having from the library for two weeks. I enjoyed the old-school leotard pictures for entertainment value, and did find some other value in seeing pictures of poses that I still can not do (aka I better understand what to strive for eventually). However, I found the text much less valuable, as Bikram and I definitely approach life/yoga/fitness using different philosophies. I expected to find more open-mindedness between these covers.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is probably only worth reading if you are a yoga nerd or want to know what you are getting yourself into if your friend convinces you that you "got to do this Bikram Yoga.” I found it funny and refreshing to hear yoga discussed in such a sarcastic tone. A word of caution regarding some of the pose suggestions, they seemed very dangerous, and you should never do a pose that hurts you, it is OK to feel discomfort but not pain.

[Alexis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been doing Bikram Yoga four times a week for about a month and a half. I'm really enjoying the class. The teachers provide great instruction and motivation, but the book provided a level of humor and detail about the poses that have improved my practice and given me insight into the philosophy and perspective of the man behind the class. Highly recommended for anyone practicing and for anyone curious about practicing!