Craig Villani is one of Bikram’s senior instructors and the Director of Education for the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training Program. He’s got an article posted on a site called, Find Bliss, that provides a concise overview of the philosophy behind Bikram Yoga. Like the Bikram Series itself, the article is well suited for beginners — i.e. those with little or no knowledge of or experience with yoga — but it also contains some insights for current practitioners who wish to deepen their understanding of the Bikram method.

One of the most misunderstood and sometimes controversial aspects of Bikram Yoga is the emphasis on discipline. If you’ve ever been to a Bikram studio, including ours, you will be familiar with the frequent admonitions to, “be on your mat and ready to practice on time,” “don’t leave the room,” “don’t drink water during the first four postures,” “be still in between the postures,” and so on. These are not arbitrary directives and they speak to the primacy of the mental aspects of a hatha yoga practice. In his article Craig illustrates this by citing “five steps [that] are woven into the fabric of the classroom experience:

1. Faith
2. Self-control or moral discipline
3. Determination or will-power
4. Concentration
5. Patience”

He also describes the intentions behind a classical hatha yoga practice:

Classical yoga asanas were originally developed with the intention of holistic integration, affecting positive change in all bodily systems by addressing their energetic roots. Hatha yoga, when practiced properly, should not damage the body. The primary focus of true hatha yoga is to heal and maintain the physical body through balancing the latent potential for strength and flexibility, ultimately leading to the experience of a happier, healthier life. After all, the motivation underlying the practice of asana is for the aspirant to receive the unique physical, mental and emotional benefits associated with the expression of each posture. Those who insist upon seeing the posture as the object of their practice may needlessly continue to injure their bodies for the sake of performance. In Bikram Yoga, the emphasis is placed upon the healing benefits attained through maintaining depth of expression relative to proper application of form. Thus, the posture is never seen as the object – the body is the object.

It is from this background that Bikram Yoga was developed and it is with this in mind that we are always saying, “anybody can do it.” Those who continue to think of hatha yoga as only a measure of physical ability (flexibility, strength, balance) are missing the forest for the trees. Yes, we focus on postures, and specifically on our own ability to perform the postures, but the real benefits come from the insights we gain into the nature of our bodies as well as a deeper understanding of how our mind relates to the body.

Read the full article at findbliss.com.

PS - I was taken aback when Craig wrote that Bikram has been, “professionally teaching hatha yoga from the age of six” but I’m pretty certain that’s a typo. I assume it should read “sixteen”.

A tip of the water bottle to Shasta for pointing me to the article.