Yoga master teaches art of body relaxation at Penn Tower

As Rajashree Choudhury twisted and contorted her body into unimaginable positions, her husband, yoga master Bikram Choudhury, explained the healing powers and techniques of yoga Saturday at the Penn Tower Hotel. Choudhury's workshop was held in conjunction with the Alternative Health Expo at the hotel. "Yoga reorganizes and revitalizes all the body's cells," Choudhury said, adding that it is the only sport which uses each organ "100 percent." Choudhury -- who is world-renowned for his yoga talents -- discussed how to control diseases by likening the human body to a car. "If it is broken, it won't start no matter what kind of gas you use," Choudhury said. "It is necessary to fix the engine first and then figure out what kind of gas it takes." He explained that when the entire endocrine system is damaged, it is necessary to isolate the problem --changing one's food intake is not enough. As a yoga master, "you make yourself so strong physically, mentally and spiritually that nothing bothers you," Choudhury explained. "We live in a higher cosmic consciousness." Choudhury's philosophy of marriage -- like his views on disease -- differs from common Western approaches. "When you have a marriage between your own body, soul and mind, then you can have a marriage to another body, soul and mind," he said, adding that it is necessary "to learn to love and take care of yourself and then you might find someone who will love and like you." All the attendees at the day-long yoga workshop -- many of whom came from throughout the Northeast -- raved about Choudhury's skill. "Bikram's techniques are superlative," said Georgia Balligan, a 25-year yoga veteran to the exhibition from Long Island, N.Y. Choudhury attributed the emotional problems common to American society to bad spines, noting that while Americans comprise only 5 percent of the world's population, they have 98 percent of the world's bad backs. In order to cure spinal problems, Choudhury suggested daily yoga exercises including bending the spine backwards. He said because humans are always arched forward, it is important for backs to also bend the other way. Choudhury added that Americans should adopt some Eastern practices in order to maintain a steady, healthy life. "We have to follow your system to have a good country -- you have to follow our system to have a good life." As a yoga master, Choudhury said he has cured many illnesses that Western medicine cannot currently control, claiming to have cured Parkinson's Disease and diabetes. "If you ask me how it is possible, I don't know but I can cure it," he said. And Balligan added that Choudhury "has designed a program that will fit any human being."