what is bikram yoga?
Bikram yoga is a sequence of 26 Hatha yoga postures and 2 breathing exercises practiced in a heated room to stretch and strengthen every muscle, tendon, ligament, gland, joint, and organ in the body. The series systematically moves fresh oxygenated blood throughout the body to detoxify and restore your body to its natural, perfect condition — without machines, drugs, or injury. The room is heated to 105° Farenheit to promote deep stretching, rapid detoxification, and increased heart rate for a cardiovascular workout. The workout thins the blood to clear the circulatory system.
benefits
Bikram is known for his, ahem, no nonsense metaphors and says his class is like flushing the body’s toilet. Every muscle, organ, gland, ligament is stretched, strengthened, and flooded with fresh, oxygenated blood. Toxins can exit the body through the skin, lungs and organs. Lymphs are massaged, and bones receive blood and calcium. Through compression and extension, all major systems of the body can naturally dispose of waste and more effectively receive and use fresh blood and nutrients.
Some of the mind-body benefits you experience in Bikram yoga:
- improved sleep (including needing less of it!)
- diminished hunger
- glowing, clean skin
- a stronger heart
- increased endurance
- normalized metabolism
- increased lung capacity and elasticity
- lean, toned muscles
- mental clarity and poise
- relief from chronic pain, especially in spine and joints
- stronger immune system
bikram is for rock stars and couch potatoes
Bikram’s beginning yoga class is designed for all people — man, woman, healthy, sick, young, old, tall, short, fat, skinny, athlete, and couch potato. You do not need to have an established yoga practice, be flexible, a vegetarian, or anything other than exactly as you are today. The 90-minute class consists of 26 beginning hatha yoga postures and 2 breathing exercises.
same postures, same order, every class
Hatha is a therapeutic form of yoga. Each posture in the sequence prepares you for the next posture. Practicing the same postures, same sequence, every time, you develop patience and discipline. Practicing the sequence in the order Bikram designed it ensures that every muscle, tendon, ligament, gland, joint, and organ in your body gets a workout. The first part of class is standing postures that systematically stretch and work the major muscle groups in your body. The second part of class is floor postures that stretch and strengthen the spine. Any doubts that yoga is an intense cardiovascular workout will quickly disappear in the hot room!
No need for props, straps, blocks, blankies, whips, chains, or whatever other accessories are currently debuting in yoga rooms. Just bring your well-hydrated self, a mat, a towel, and water. You will learn to use your own strength to develop your flexibility. The work you do in a Bikram yoga class appears in your daily life. Use those strong quads in triangle pose — don’t slip on the winter ice. Lay still and quiet in dead body pose — watch your road rage disappear. Usually, the posture you don’t like is the one you need most.