Famous yogi visits Bayport studio

The recently reborn Hot Yoga Works in Bayport hosted world-renowned yogi Rajashree Choudhury for a workshop on Wednesday, June 16.

Four of the instructors at Bayport attended the in-demand session (which sold old within days of being announced), with a total of nine instructors participating in the Bayport and Setauket (Hot Yoga Works’ other location) meetings.

The workshop in Bayport began with a meditation, as Choudhury is firm that mental and physical discipline are both necessary to achieve the best outcome of a consistent yoga practice.

She explained that while certain personalities can be dismissive of the meditative portion and only focus on the asanas (physical poses), others will lay in the passive state and need to be pushed into the exercises.

Since the pandemic, and breaking with the actual Bikram authority, Hot Yoga Works has been hosting 75-minute classes called “26 & 2.”

Attendees were treated to a traditional 90-minute class, where Choudhury relied on repetition of markers for poses to instill proper form.

Suzanne Alagna, owner of Hot Yoga Works, said, “It was comforting to have what we learned in teacher training be reinforced by Rajashree in this important and timely workshop.”

In 1979, Choudhury won the first National Yoga Championship held by the Yoga Federation of India, followed by consecutive years as National Yoga Champion and won the first Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup (between men and women) held in Calcutta in 1982.

In 1985, she represented Mrs. India in the Mrs. World Pageant and was crowned “Most Photogenic.” In 1994, Choudhury cofounded Bikram Yoga's Teacher Training program, and she continues to teach heated hatha yoga.

To promote yoga asana as a sport, Choudhury founded the United States Yoga Federation and the International Yoga Sports Federation. IYSF is the international governing body for the sport of Yoga Asana worldwide. Its mission is to promote, unify, and boost interest in Yoga Asana globally.

Choudhury has a degree in yoga therapy and is certified with the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She travels worldwide to conduct seminars and workshops, as well as hosting yoga retreats and spreading personal development.

Choudhury is inspired by her personal teachers, Dr. P. S. Das and Dr. Kushala Das, as well other giants in the world of yoga B. K. S. Iyengar and Paramahansa Yogananda.

In 2005, Choudhury branched out to the fashion world and established an accessories line that “would remind people to embrace, embody, and empower their true self.”

Gemology is a discipline that Choudhury connects to her childhood Vedic traditions, as each stone in her jewelry line has its own therapeutic healing properties.