Bikram Yoga was created in the 1970s by Bikram Choudhury, a controversial yet influential figure in the world of modern yoga. Born in 1944 in Calcutta, India, Bikram Choudhury began practising yoga at the age of 4 under the tutelage of Bishnu Charan Ghosh, brother of Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the most famous yogic masters and author of "Autobiography of a Yogi". Bishnu Ghosh was not only a master of yoga, but also a devotee of physical culture, combining the benefits of yoga and bodybuilding to create a strong, healthy body. He believed that healing the body was a crucial first step towards spiritual transformation, a conviction that profoundly influenced Bikram Choudhury.

Legend has it that Bikram, then a young bodybuilding and yoga champion in India, suffered a serious knee injury at the age of 17 during a weight training accident. Doctors told him he would never walk again. Determined to prove otherwise, Bikram returned to his master, Bishnu Ghosh, who helped him devise a series of postures to rehabilitate his knee and strengthen his body. In less than six months, Bikram not only regained the use of his knee, but also perfected this sequence of therapeutic postures, which would later become the basis of Bikram Yoga.

In the 1970s, after winning several yoga competitions in India, Bikram Choudhury emigrated to the United States, where he began teaching his method in heated classrooms. Developing this practice in an overheated environment was a unique innovation at the time, inspired in part by the hot, humid temperatures of Calcutta, where Bikram had grown up and practiced. He believed that intense heat prevented injury by increasing muscular flexibility, while facilitating theelimination of toxins through perspiration. This concept of "hot yoga" became the cornerstone of his method, and he was one of the first to use an air-conditioned environment specifically for yoga practice.

Bikram Yoga is based on a fixed sequence of 26 postures (asanas) and 2 breathing exercises (pranayamas), all drawn from traditional Hatha Yoga, but modified to maximize physical and mental benefits in a heated setting. Bikram chose these postures specifically for their ability to work and detoxify every part of the body, targeting all major muscle groups, internal organs, glands and the lymphatic and respiratory systems. Unlike other styles of yoga, which allow a certain fluidity or flexibility in sequences, Bikram Yoga always follows the same rigid sequence of postures. This allows practitioners to concentrate on the continuous improvement of each posture, and to observe their progress over time.

Bikram Choudhury introduced his yoga to an international audience when he founded his first studio in Beverly Hills, California, in the early 1970s. His dynamic yet demanding style quickly gained popularity, particularly among Hollywood celebrities, athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Bikram Yoga became a cultural phenomenon in the 1980s and 1990s, attracting a loyal following thanks to its promises of rapid body transformation, deep detoxification and mental strengthening.

The repetitive and intensive nature of Bikram Yoga has been the subject of much debate over the years. Some practitioners praise its benefits, including weight loss, improved flexibility, muscle toning and stress reduction. Others, however, warn of the potential risks associated with excessive heat, particularly for beginners or those with pre-existing medical conditions. Despite these controversies, Bikram Yoga has helped popularize the idea of hot yoga and inspired many other variants, such as Hot Yoga, which also uses heat but with more flexible posture sequences.

In addition to the growing popularity of Bikram Yoga, Bikram Choudhury himself has become a controversial public figure, not least because of several accusations of harassment and misconduct. Despite this, his style of yoga remains widely practiced around the world, and thousands of studios continue to teach the original method, often referred to simply as "26&2 " (for the 26 postures and 2 pranayamas), perpetuating the legacy of a method that has transformed the way yoga is perceived in modern societies.