On Bikram Yoga

An excerpt from Mark Stephen's book "Teaching Yoga: Essential Foundations and Techniques." An esteemed yoga instructor who has trained over seven hundred yoga teachers, he conducts classes, workshops, teacher trainings, and retreats worldwide.

Bikram Choudhury

Very few approaches to yoga in the West are named for their leading teacher. B.K.S. Iyengar, Ana Forest, and Bikram Choudhury are the only ones to name a system after themselves. Perhaps more than any other yoga teacher, Choudhury is unabashedly boastful in describing his personal accomplishments both on the mat ("I am beyond superman") and off the mat, frequently reminding others of his financial success. Whether from authentic megalomania or a brilliant public relations ploy (or both), Choudhury and his approach received extensive coverage in the media. With hundreds of Bikram's Yoga College of India and Hot Yoga studios dotting the planet, many thousands of students religiously follow the Bikram method of Hatha yoga.

5 Ways Yoga Can Enhance New Year's Resolutions

An article by Erica Rodefer. She is a writer and yoga enthusiast in Charleston, SC. Visit her blog, Spoiledyogi.com, follow her on Twitter, or like her on Facebook.

I'm not a huge fan of New Year's resolutions. It just seems so unrealistic to expect yourself to change over night. As a yoga student, I know that it takes practice and patience over a long period of time to change a long-held pattern. For example, I've been practicing relaxing my jaw for years now, and I still have to remind myself almost constantly. But this time of year we're all bombarded with messages that remind us that we should lose weight, get healthier, be happier, etc. There's nothing wrong with setting goals for the future, but I'm a firm believer that taking a yogic approach to those goals will help you reach them faster (and forgive yourself if you fall a little short, too!). 

Here are 5 ways yoga can help with common New Year's Resolutions.