Hot Yoga vs Bikram: What’s the Real Difference?

Hot yoga and Bikram are often used as the same term. Both take place in a heated room. Bikram follows a fixed sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises. Classes last 90 minutes and the room is kept at around 40°C. Hot yoga covers a wider range of styles. Understanding these differences can help you choose the practice that best suits your goals, experience, and preferences.

What is Bikram yoga?

Bikram yoga is the most specific and structured style of hot yoga in the world. It follows a fixed sequence: 26 postures and two breathing exercises, performed in the same order, every single class, in a room heated to around 41°C (105°F).
That consistency is the whole point. Because the sequence never changes, students can track their progress precisely, watching a posture that felt impossible in week one become steady by week twelve.

We teach this style at our Crouch End studio, where classes follow the traditional 26-posture format at Bikram temperature. If you love routine or find comfort in knowing exactly what’s coming, this is worth trying.

What is hot yoga?

“Hot yoga” is the wider umbrella term and covers more ground. Rather than one fixed sequence, non-Bikram hot yoga is often shaped by the teacher that day, drawing on a rotating set of postures to build a class around what students need.

At our Borough studio, our signature Hot Yoga classes work this way. The room is heated to around 40°C, and sequencing is designed by the teacher rather than locked to a script. Some sessions focus on hip openers after a week of desk-bound clients. Others build slowly toward a stronger backbend. Read the science-backed benefits of hot yoga to understand how regular practice can support strength, flexibility, and overall wellbeing.

Temperature differences

The heat difference between the two styles is smaller than people expect but still exists:

• Bikram: roughly 41°C (105°F), the traditional benchmark
• 3Tribes Hot Yoga (Borough): around 40°C
• 3Tribes Bikram (Crouch End): around 41°C, following the traditional format

Sequence differences

This is really where the two styles part ways.
Bikram’s 26 postures are fixed. You’ll do the same standing series, the same floor series, in the same order, whichever Bikram class you attend, anywhere in the world.

Non-Bikram hot yoga, like our Borough classes, moves more like a live conversation than a script. The teacher reads the room and builds the sequence accordingly. Many students find this keeps the practice fresh rather than formulaic, especially if they attend two or three times a week. You can further read about what to expect at your first class.

More about Bikram’s

Bikram yoga carries some baggage due to serious misconduct allegations against Bikram Choudhury, the practice’s founder, which have been widely reported over the past decade.

The sequence and the man are two separate things. Many studios, including ours, teach the 26-posture format on its own merits, led by fully qualified UK instructors.

3Tribes offers both

Our Crouch End studio carries the traditional Bikram torch: 26 postures, classic heat, done properly. Our Borough studio runs individually sequenced Hot Yoga, shaped fresh by the teacher each session. Both share the same commitment to a proper, well-taught heated practice but take different routes.

The answer to “hot yoga vs Bikram: which is better” is that it depends entirely on you, and the only way to find out is to feel the difference for yourself.
Come try a class at either of our London studios; book your first class through our class schedule.