Bikram Yoga

Bikram, the "hot yoga" program, has been heating up the yoga world lately, and its founder probably has something to do with it: The outspoken, dramatic, and always controversial Bikram Choudhury has garnered a lot of attention with his version of hatha yoga that some yogis think unorthodox: In his classes, students are stuck in a room heated to at least 105 degrees doing a structured program of 26 asanas with a sergeant-like instructor, and they love it. With his take-no-prisoners philosophy, Bikram describes how the program can reap great medical, physical, and spiritual benefits - the poses work out every part of the body, all of which can help alleviate many common ailments, from asthma to back pain. (Photographs accompany each pose.) In addition, the book offers the best ways to incorporate eastern philosophy into a western lifestyle and tips on how yoga can cultivate "a union between body and spirit."

Bikram Choudhury, who won the prestigious National India Yoga Competition at the age of thirteen, is the founder of the Yoga College of India, which has its headquarters in Beverly Hills. There are more than 1700 Bikram Yoga studios worldwide that teach his exclusive style of Hatha Yoga.