Bikram Yoga & Hot Yoga Toronto, Annex : About Our Hot Yoga

"...whether young, old or too old, sick or lean, one who discards laziness, gets success if he practices Yoga. " -Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Hatha Yoga

The first reliable texts on Hatha Yoga have been written between the 6th and 15th centuries A.D. They include Hatha Yoga Pradipika by Yogi Swatmarama, Goraksha Samhita by Yogi Gorakhnath, Gherand Samhita by sage Gherand and Hatharatnavali by Srinivasabhatta Mahayogindra.

Hatha yoga is a combination of two beeja mantras, 'ha' and 'tha'. 'Ha' represents prana, the vital force, and 'tha' represents mind, the mental energy. So hatha yoga means the union of the pranic and mental forces. With their union, a great awakening takes place of the higher consciousness.

"The main objective of Hatha Yoga is to create an absolute balance of the interacting activities and processes of the physical body, mind and energy. When this balance is created, the impulses generated give a call of awakening to the central force which is responsible for the evolution of human consciousness."
                                                              -Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translation by
                                                               Swami Muktibodhananda Saraswati

Yoga and Health

The concept of harmonizing the twofold energies in man is very important for health considerations, because the two forces remain in an unbalanced and unharmonized state. Either the prana shakti is dominant or the mental shakti, and the other one is subservient. Due to this imbalance, either physical or mental diseases manifest.

"Since ancient times it (hatha yoga) has been used by yogis and rishis for the relief and elimination of all kinds of diseases and defects. It is true that the practices require more time and effort on the part of the patient than conventional therapies, but in terms of permanent, positive results, as well as saving the enormous expenditure on medicines, they are certainly more worthwile. What makes this method of treatment so powerful and effective is the fact that it works according to the principles of harmony and unification, rather than diversity."
-Hatha Yoga Pradipika, translation by
Swami Muktibodhananda Saraswati

"What is desirable in body culture is the harmonious development of power over the voluntary action of muscles and the involuntary processes of heart, lungs, stomach and other organs and important glands. This is what gives health, and is the scientific principle underlying the Yoga exercises." -Bishnu Ghosh

Our Yoga

"...it is never too late to begin the practice of this yoga system, for it helps to rebuild the body, re-energize the mind, revive lost youth, beauty and strength, make youth last longer and repair the damage silently done by wrong methods of living, and by disobedience of nature's simple laws; body and mind are so closely related that if one is healthy, the other must also be so." -Buddha Bose

Our yoga lineage can be traced to a series codified by the Nath sect between the 5th and 10th century. A.D. The Nath sect was founded by Yogi Matsyendranath, regarded as the first human teacher of hatha yoga. Matsyendranath's chief disciple, Gorakhnath, was guru to Yogi Swatmarama, who compiled the wisdom and techniques of hatha yoga in the Hatha Yoga Pradipikas.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Over the centuries this lineage was passed down to Swami Sivananda Saraswati of Rishikesh Ashram in the Himalayas. Sivananda worked closely with Bishnu Charan Ghosh to help him develop a system of hatha yoga asanas for health and fitness, based on the original classic 84 postures.

Bishnu Charan Ghosh

Bishnu Charan Ghosh, youngest brother of Paramahansa Yogananda - author of the best selling Autobiography of a Yogi, established Ghosh's College of Physical Education in 1924, in Calcutta. He was a celebrated physical culturalist in India and abroad. Bishnu traveled world wide and gave amazing demonstrations of mind's control over body. Bishnu's son Biswanath (Bisu) Ghosh followed in his father's footsteps. Bisu's daughter Muktamala is now in charge of Ghosh's College.

Bikram Choudhury

Bikram Choudhury, Bishnu Ghosh's most talented student, opened his Yoga College of India headquarters in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles in the late 1970's. Bikram developed his own series of 26 postures, based on the main 84 taught by his Guru Bishnu Ghosh. He named it Bikram Yoga, a beginner level class.

Sasha Shkolnikov
(our studio founder) is performing
'Salutation to Gods and Goddesses' from Bishnu Hot Yoga.

In our Hot Yoga Toronto studio we teach the original Bikram Hot Yoga Method and Bishnu Hot Yoga from our Bishnu Ghosh tradition.

These yoga series are highly effective therapeutic yoga methods. Their unique system of working in a hot room allows for deeper relaxation and faster, more profound effects on nervous, endocrine, muscular and skeletal systems. The series work synergistically and cumulatively to return the body to a balanced state. The heated environment helps prevent injury, improves circulation and promotes detoxification.

"...the faithful student will find that the yoga exercises invariably and consciously develop his will power along with his bodily strength."
	-Bishnu Ghosh
"The body is literally manufactured and sustained by mind."
	-Paramahansa Yogananda

Paramahansa Yogananda