Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: If you are a student of Bikram Yoga I highly recommend purchasing this book! It can really help you with postures that you are having trouble with. The other thing is that you get a small sampling of Bikram Choudury's personality. Some people find him mean and sharp-toungued, I just think he has a good sense of humor that tends to be more on the sarcastic side. I think that if you are reading this book to learn how to "do" yoga, I would caution you from that. I would suggest finding a Bikram class near you and trying it first, before purchasing this book.
Rating:
Summary: Essential for Bikram students
Review: If you are a student of Bikram Yoga I highly recommend purchasing this book! It can really help you with postures that you are having trouble with. The other thing is that you get a small sampling of Bikram Choudury's personality. Some people find him mean and sharp-toungued, I just think he has a good sense of humor that tends to be more on the sarcastic side. I think that if you are reading this book to learn how to "do" yoga, I would caution you from that. I would suggest finding a Bikram class near you and trying it first, before purchasing this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Arrogant, outdated, and worthless
Review: In a world of arrogant Yogis, this guy wins the prize for most arrogant.
Bikram claims to be "the authority" on Yoga and decries the "westernization" of Yoga. (Paging Baron Baptiste).
His opinion is ridiculous. Yogis such as Mr. Baptiste have brought Yoga to the masses by focusing on making Yoga available for everybody. He has pointedly criticized others in the community for focusing on "pretzel like" asanas that are often unachievable for beginner students.
Furthermore, Bikram may be the most irresponsible of all of the authors I've read regarding the health benefits of Yoga. I find these claims VERY dangerous and specious at best. BE AWARE when reading these claims.
His recommended sequence is boring. Check out the books by Mr. Baptiste and also Hatha Yoga Illustrated.
Rating: 
Summary: A yoga book with attitude!
Review: Many yoga books can be very well put together, but actually quite boring to read. My bookshelf is full of yoga books that I love dearly and have always meant to read cover-to-cover, but for some reason can never quite seem to find the time to read. I found Bikram witty, down-to-earth, fun and very enjoyable. I have taken the hot yoga classes about 3 times a week for about 10 months now (since May 2004) and it fixed my lower back pain, improved my posture, flexibility and health in general. If you follow Bikram's advice correctly, this yoga is wonderful. Some people can't handle the heat and others prefer more variety in their practice. For me, however, I have grown to love the benefits of this flavor of yoga and find the set sequence of 26 postures makes practice easier and simpler for me. This yoga is probably difficult to get into for people over 60 who are not already in good shape. For such people, I would recommend a gentler, slower paced Iyengar yoga class.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice book, but let's be clear about Patanjali...
Review: Reviewer Michael Charles quotes Bikram as writing, "These are the classic Yoga Postures handed down from Patanjali's Yoga Sutras." Only 3 of Patanjali's 195 yoga sutras are devoted to asana (posture) and they are about attitude rather than descriptions of actual postures. Be wary of anyone who tells you that his or her yoga is the "true" yoga as delineated by Patanjali. (Bikram is not the only yogi who makes this claim). I have nothing against Bikram, his methods, or this book--in fact, I enjoy Bikram Yoga classes. I just wanted to point out this misleading claim.
Rating:
Summary: Hold the ego, please.
Review: The postures in the book are fine, but there are many great yoga books out there where you don't have to deal with the HUGE Beverly Hills ego of Bikram. I saw many reviewers found his abuse and arrogance as humor, and in a way I guess a guru in Beverly Hills would have to be abusive and sarcastic to get spoiled, rich people to do some work, and as most gurus he says his way is the "only way". But if you need abuse with your yoga, you just don't get it.
Rating:
Summary: Use it in conjunction with Bikram Yoga classes
Review: This book has been extremely helpful to me in learning the accurate 26 poses of Bikram Yoga, and what I'm trying to achieve while doing them. It gives me background information about what to expect, the benefits, the ideals and reality. In conjunction with taking Bikram Yoga classes, it is the perfect companion, and definately recommended! Written in conversational style, it is very easy to read, inspiring, motivational, and infused with Bikram's own sense of quirky humour. I would strongly recommend it for the student of Bikram Yoga, but not necessarily as a stand alone item, as I can see a beginner of Yoga not understanding the principles or correct methods.
Rating:
Summary: bikram class and book a must.
Review: This book is primarily an extra guide to what any student can gain from a competent bikram yoga teacher.This book will open your eyes to specific breathing patterns, proper mindset and small adjustments in your poses, however, unless you take a class you will not get the most out of Bikram yoga. remember a yoga class is 90 minutes long in 110 degree heat with high humidity. I doubt anyone can replicate those conditions at home, therefore get yourself into a yoga class and really get the most out of this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: This book is really helpful for beginners in Hatha Yoga. Frankly, I'm just happy that it was reprinted, as my copy of the original is incredibly dog-earred :-). I've seen complaints that the poses are two difficult. They really aren't that bad, the Camel Pose, for example, looks scary at first but after a week or two you can do it as well as the people in the book. People complain about Mr. Choudhury's style of speaking to his students, I think it depends on how you interpret it, a friend of mine says that in real life, he is a really nice man.
Rating:
Summary: excellent book but...
Review: This is a beautiful sequence, it can literally change your life, change the structure of your body, and that's why the heat is necessary, and it is NOT that hard. A few poses are, but the point is you do them to the best of your ability properly and you are benefitting. You will find that they have you holding each pose for only ten counts or so, whereas you should really hold them for closer to a minute or so (and thats how you would hold them in a class).
BUT... this is NOT the be all end all. It is important to change your yoga sometimes, and you should not be afraid to try different things, even play with the bikram sequence a little, though he says not to.
Overall, it does work better if you take some classes, but if those are too expensive, this is just fine. The sequence is very natural, after a not long time, you memorize it. (so then you dont need the book, oh well) But there are good discussions, and it is easily written
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