Bikram and Yoga

Yes … unsubstantiated. It’s a story.

I read he did Yoga therapy with bathtube and epsom salt to help Nixon.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he did do a a yoga therapy with Nixon. I see so many celebreties into Transcendental Meditation… so why not Hatha Yoga.

Hi Senin

What ‘unsubstantiated’ means is that nobody else in the whole world can in any way, shape or form confirm that it is true. There is no historical record. In other words, there is no substance to the claim.

There is only one person’s word. Given that Nixon was such a high profile person and the claims that are made are so great, then one expects that it would be ‘substantiated’ somewhere.

There are similar stories of equally and even more high profile people that are also unsubstantiated.

The problem is that there are so many ‘stories’ and they are all so outlandish, and frankly, when it comes down to it, one tends not to believe them because there is nothing to back them up.

Anyway, rather than me continue I am copying in what Wikipedia has on its website for you:

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He claims NASA scientists tested Bikram Yoga on osteoporosis patients for eight months, seeing a “100%” improvement, and has said: “They couldn’t write a thesis how this happened; I prove this every single day.

Whether a president [such as Nixon, whom Bikram claims to have taught in 1972 and who then gave him an open invitation to live in the United States] or a prime minister [Indira Gandhi, whom he calls his godmother], or the Pope [Paul VI].” Bikram claims to have rejuvenated them all. “I saved years and years and years and years and years.”

Bikram’s claim to have carried out research for NASA, although extensively repeated, has not been confirmed by that organisation. His claims to have treated Nixon are similarly unverified and do not appear in Nixon biographies. In a BBC radio documentary he claimed to have treated the Beatles in 1959, even though the Beatles had not been formed at that time.

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It certainly gets harder and harder these days to be able to discern the truth of much available information. This is largely because if it is found online MANY people simply believe it to be true. Such is the power of the written word! I know it’s easy to be caught out! It pays to be curious, that’s for sure.

Thanks for posting. I hope that answers your question!

Actually, I was JUST about to press ‘Submit Post’ when we found this little gem posted by a yoga teacher on a yoga forum. In it he writes:

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After reading this thread I contacted the Nixon Library regarding Bikram and the President.

Here is a copy of the email

Dear Mr. M——: I am replying to your inquiry about whether Bikram Choudhury treated President Nixon for his phlebitis condition. We’ve checked our archives and found nothing on file to confirm Mr. Choudhury’s treatment such as correspondence, invoices or payment checks. Also, there is no mention of Mr. Choudhury in Healing Richard Nixon, the autobiography by the President’s personal physician, Dr. John C. Lungren, which describes the treatment of the President’s phlebitis in considerable detail. I hope this is helpful. Sincerely, John Taylor, director, Nixon Library

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Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Maybe some people don’t want to be public with what they do? It took David Lynch 30 years to come out and talk about his practice of Transcendental Meditation…

Hi Senin

Actually what people love on this forum is hot yoga. So thank you for joining us. :cheese:

It is up to them if they want to love the man. There is certainly NO requirement here to feel one way or the other.

So, we’re like you, no opinion one way or the other but we do not support people making claims that they have no right to. False information doesn’t help us grow and in this case it is a little self-serving you might say.

I am grateful for BC for popularizing a style of hot yoga that he was given by his guru Bishnu Ghosh. Regardless of wildly ranging opinions of the man, we can all be grateful for everyone having access to or an heightened awareness of yoga. It wasn’t that long ago when yoga was for hippies and new agers.

My passion is helping people get the MOST they can out of their practice and their lives as a result of yoga. I love finding ways to help people understand how it all connects. I started that process by helping people with the asana, the poses themselves (and then writing my manual Hot Yoga MasterClass. Oh dear, that sounds like a plug). So …

This forum is to help people who want to share their passion for hot yoga (and other kinds too), and learn a lot more than a script can offer, which is how most hot yoga is taught (boo hoo).

So here we look at ways to help people deepen their practices, in all ways and holistically. People come to ask the questions that either their teachers can’t answer or don’t have the time to!

Many hundreds of the questions are from students around the world who need help with their technique in asana, breathing or posture. And yes there are times when the culture of ‘bikram yoga’ can be too rigid and too offensive for some who come here to find ways to work around that, either to gain better understanding, or to make choices to protect themselves.

Maybe they need a technique, or maybe they need help to wade through the information about what constitutes SAFE heating conditions, and maybe what is acceptable behaviour and what is not.

It’s a wonderful mix of people who come and discuss, or simply trawl through the questions and answers, find what they need and take it into their practices!

People come because they need answers and they come here because for the most part, they get them. You may not know this but this forum is actually the most popular hot yoga forum in the world. And whether you have an opinion about Bikram or not, anyone can come and learn, contribute and participate here.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Senin

Thank you! That is very flattering.

Actually what you’ll find is that my approach to the poses has transformed them into a risk-free safe experience. But more importantly I truly believe that what actually results is a far more satisfying practice.

Yep, that can be hard to believe but overwhelmingly the feedback is that students feel even more fantastic and their practice is less stressful and more fulfilling. You could say that in that way I have already done my ‘tweaking’.

Initially I decided to write my book (time for the gratuitous plug complete with link :cheese:) and start this forum.

Over the years it has been a great journey for me to integrate my knowledge of the yoga with a sound scientific understanding plus an intuitive sense of the way everything connects.

I have always held great concerns for the way many people practise. It upsets me to see people risking themselves, on the way to a torn hamstring, painful lower backs, stressing of the cervical vertebrae (etc) when what they ideally want is to enhance their health. I just have to do something! 😆

Too often one’s practice is gleaned solely from the ‘script’ as if that script were a bible or some sacred text that somehow contains [em]everything [/em]you need to know in those single dimensional words. There are many who oddly believe that what has been recorded in a once-off recording of a class is ALL that Bikram yoga is about. I challenge that belief.

Unfortunately when the ‘script’ or ‘dialog’ is taken as gospel then the practitioner loses out. I instead prefer to look at the body biomechanically and interconnectedly.

There are countless times where I visit studios or students have visited mine where poses have been being practised dangerously. Often all it takes is a slight physical adjustment or a different approach and it’s fixed. And then I am one happy yogini!

Thank you for participating! I appreciate everybody’s contributions and the richness of ideas and opinion and compassion!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

By the way, anyone else see the news about BC suing the owner of a studio called Yoga For the People’? Copyright infringement for using the ‘same language’ as taught in the official BY classes.

Here’s a link

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/off-the-mat-into-court-lawsuit-pits-bikram-and-yoga-to-the-people/