Most yoga instructors in Bali learned to teach from a teacher training programme. Mr. Ian Terry learned to teach by standing in the room with Bikram Choudhury himself — five times, across seven years, in cities on three continents.
This is the story of what 20 years of hot rooms teaches you about the practice — and what it means for the students who come to YogaFX Bali today.
Mr. Ian Terry is the founder and lead instructor of YogaFX Yoga Teacher Training. He holds an E-RYT 500 — Yoga Alliance’s highest certification — alongside a Bikram Hot Yoga Certification and ACE accreditation. He completed 5 direct training events with Bikram Choudhury between 2012 and 2019 and served as his assistant teacher for 5 years. With 20+ years of teaching experience and 12,000+ hours of instruction worldwide, Mr. Ian is one of the most credentialed Bikram yoga instructors practicing in Southeast Asia.
The Beginning: Los Angeles, 2012
Mr. Ian Terry first encountered Bikram Choudhury in Los Angeles in 2012. By that point, he had been practicing and teaching yoga for years — but training directly under the method’s originator reframed everything he understood about the practice.
The dialogue is precise for a reason. Every word in the 26&2 script exists because Bikram put it there deliberately. When you learn from the source, you understand not just what to say, but what each instruction is designed to produce in the student’s body. This first training in Los Angeles became the foundation of a 7-year direct relationship with Choudhury’s methodology.
The Training Timeline: Five Events, Three Continents
| Year | Location | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Los Angeles, USA | First direct training — foundation of Mr. Ian’s 26&2 methodology |
| 2015 | Los Angeles, USA | Advanced refinement — deepening dialogue delivery and posture correction |
| 2016 | Thailand | Tropical climate training — natural heat context for the methodology |
| 2017 | India | Connection to the method’s Indian roots — philosophy and origin |
| 2018 | Beijing, China | Final formal training — assistant teacher role consolidated |
Between these events, Mr. Ian served as Choudhury’s assistant teacher for 5 years — a role that goes beyond attending training. An assistant teacher delivers the 26&2 dialogue alongside the lead instructor, corrects student alignment in real time, and is directly accountable for class quality. This is where Mr. Ian’s instructional depth was developed: not in a cohort as a student, but on the studio floor as a teacher.
What Five Training Events Teach You That One Cannot
The Dialogue Is a Living Instruction
The Bikram 26&2 dialogue is a script — the same words, in the same order, every class. But delivery varies with every student, every room, every moment. Over years of direct training, Mr. Ian developed an understanding of the dialogue’s intent — not just its words. The script tells you what to say. Experience teaches you when to pause, when to push, and when to let the room breathe.
Heat Is a Teacher, Not a Setting
Five training events across different climatic conditions — including the Thailand training in natural tropical heat and Los Angeles events in purpose-built studios — gave Mr. Ian direct comparative experience of what natural heat does that electric heat cannot replicate. This understanding shaped YogaFX’s decision to operate both studios in Bali without electric heaters. Bali’s natural heat is what Bikram designed the practice for. Teaching in it is different — the body responds differently, the class breathes differently, the outcomes are different.
1,500+ Students Teach You as Much as Any Training
Since establishing YogaFX Yoga Teacher Training Bali, Mr. Ian has trained over 1,500 students — from complete beginners to serious practitioners with decades of experience. This diversity has sharpened his understanding of the 26&2 sequence’s adaptability. Every body executes the sequence differently. The dialogue accommodates all of them. Understanding why requires far more than a single training event.
The Decision to Come to Bali
Mr. Ian established YogaFX Yoga Teacher Training Bali in Seminyak after identifying a specific gap: the absence of authentic Bikram 26&2 practice in the environment the method was designed for. Bali’s natural tropical climate — humid heat at 40°C year-round — is the original context of the Bikram methodology.
Everywhere else in the world, hot yoga studios use electric heaters to simulate what Bali has naturally. Coming to Bali was not just a lifestyle choice — it was a methodological one. This is where the practice works the way Bikram designed it to work. The Seminyak studio was followed by Canggu as demand grew — both without electric heaters, both under Mr. Ian’s direct instruction.
The YogaFX Teaching Philosophy
Zero Chanting, Zero Ego
Mr. Ian’s approach is direct: the practice works for everyone regardless of spiritual orientation, fitness level, or background. The cultural overlay that makes many yoga studios inaccessible — chanting, rituals, intimidating atmosphere — serves the studio’s identity, not the student’s outcomes. YogaFX strips all of that away. What remains is the practice: 26 postures, 2 breathing exercises, natural heat, and skilled instruction.
Evidence-Based Practice
The scientific research on Bikram yoga — the University of Wisconsin 2014 calorie study, the Tracy and Hart 2013 strength research, the Harvard Medical School 2023 depression RCT — validates the physiological logic that 20 years of teaching has made evident: the sequence works, the heat works, and the combination produces measurable, reproducible outcomes. This is how Mr. Ian presents the practice to students, and how YogaFX differentiates itself in a market full of wellness claims without evidence.
Every Student, Every Class
Mr. Ian teaches every class at YogaFX personally. This is unusual for a studio with two locations. It is also intentional. The quality assurance from a single credentialed instructor leading every session — rather than delegating to varying staff — is one of the most meaningful guarantees YogaFX offers. What you experience in your first class is what you experience in your hundredth.
The Credentials: What They Mean
| Credential | What It Means |
|---|---|
| E-RYT 500 | Yoga Alliance’s highest tier — requires 500+ hours training AND 1,000+ hours teaching after initial certification |
| Bikram Hot Yoga Certification | Style-specific credential confirming competency in the 26&2 dialogue and methodology |
| ACE Certification | American Council on Exercise — recognised by fitness facilities globally |
| 5× Bikram Choudhury Training | Direct training with the method’s originator — 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
| 5-Year Assistant Teacher Role | Live teaching alongside Choudhury — directly accountable for class quality |
| Yoga Alliance RYS since 2018 | YogaFX is a Registered Yoga School — graduates receive internationally recognised RYT 200 |
International Day of Yoga: Bali at Scale
Mr. Ian’s reach beyond the YogaFX studio is evidenced by large-scale events. The International Day of Yoga Bali 2020 drew 2,000+ participants. The 2023 edition drew 5,000+ participants — one of the largest yoga events in Southeast Asia that year. He has also led international YTT programmes in Manchester UK (2023), Spain, Thailand, India, and China — establishing YogaFX Yoga Teacher Training as a globally recognised programme.
FAQ
How long has Mr. Ian Terry been teaching yoga?
Mr. Ian Terry has been teaching yoga 12,000+ hours of instruction delivered worldwide. He completed his first direct training with Bikram Choudhury in Los Angeles in 2012 and his most recent in Beijing in 2018. He has trained 1,500+ students across multiple countries.
Did Mr. Ian Terry train directly with Bikram Choudhury?
Yes. Mr. Ian completed 5 direct training events with Bikram Choudhury between 2012 and 2019 — in Los Angeles (2012 and 2015), Thailand (2016), India (2017), and Beijing (2018). He also served as Choudhury’s assistant teacher for 5 years. This direct, sustained training relationship distinguishes Mr. Ian’s lineage from instructors who learned the method secondhand.
What makes Mr. Ian’s credentials different from other Bali yoga instructors?
Most yoga instructors in Bali hold a Yoga Alliance RYT 200 or 500 without style-specific depth. Mr. Ian holds an E-RYT 500, a Bikram Hot Yoga Certification, and an ACE accreditation — and completed 5 direct training events with Bikram Choudhury. Since 2017, the number of instructors globally with authenticated direct Choudhury lineage has contracted significantly. Mr. Ian is one of very few remaining.
Can I train to teach yoga under Mr. Ian Terry?
Yes. YogaFX Yoga Teacher Training offers a Yoga Alliance RYT 200 Bikram 26&2 teacher training programme — online pre-course plus 6-day Bali intensive at D’Djabu Boutique Hotel, Seminyak. Awards Yoga Alliance RYT 200, Bikram Hot Yoga Certification, and ACE certification. Programme fee: $1,999 USD (deposit: $349). Contact Mr. Ian via WhatsApp for next cohort dates.
