Bikram (or hot) yoga

Bikram Choudhury provokes strong feelings. His trademarked hot yoga attracts a host of celebrity followers – he taught former president Richard Nixon – and Bikram yoga is one of the fastest-growing styles around. A former weight-lifter, Choudhury turned to yoga after a weight crushed his knees; his yoga practice restored them to full health.

Practiced in a room heated to over 40 degrees, Bikram yoga is a challenging series. Because of this heat, students can rapidly gain flexibility. It also induces a rugged cardio vascular workout. Yet the heat also produces an intense concentration: it's so hot you find yourself literally hanging on through the class and this point of focus becomes a meditation. Bikram teachers are trained in a trademarked dialogue so that students get the same class wherever the go in the world. It's a heady tonic.

Bikram yoga really came of age during the late 90s yoga boom in California. Riding the wave of celebrity and his famous contacts, the Indian is also renowned for his flambouyant personality. In interviews he's fond of saying things like: 'My balls weigh a ton each. Each bigger than an atomic bomb', or performing Jesus and Micheal Jackson impersonations on stage.