Bikram Yoga aka "Hot" Yoga

Anyone any experience with this? I have done some Astanga for a while and a few Iyengar classes. A Bikram studio has opened up not too far away.

I have done a little research and it seems to support the idea that it is easier to stretch when the body is warm. So I am curious...

The place is expensive, but it teaches 6 days a week and is a full time studio, so they do deals for regular attendance (still pricey though!!).

I have heard a lot of good and bad stuff about Bikram, but was wondering if anyone had any experience with it?

Yo Prizewriter,

Yup, theres been a quite successful Bikram school here in G'ville...it's actually, lie not, called "Big Rons" Yoga (hahahah).

Imagine doing yoga asana in a sauna and needing 2-3 big towels and I took an old gatoraide bottle, Liter size full of H2O and I added my favorite brand of powered mineral complexes (brand "Emergen-C"). its about a steamy 105 F and the two owners (checked their certifications first) are licensed Bikram Yoga Instructors lead the 1.5 hr class (break 1/2 way through as one needs to refill H2O bottles and get dry towels).

Its a great system founded on traditional yoga asana with the addition of the sweltering temp one will sweat copious amounts of toxins out and must remain hydrated. (sweat only excretes toxins of smaller size, kidneys filter up to 50k Dalton size, Liver does the rest, so to gain best effectiveness ensure healthy kidney and liver fct., dont wear antiperspirants or hair goo)

It is more expensive generally due to electrical costs to owners and not many Bikram schools out there.

Seems many people mistakenly believe asana are static poses, 1.5 hrs of a good mix of seated/standing/inverted stretching/balance asana and you will probably enjoy the endorphin buzz for hrs,

My only complaint was that every class, over months, and the fixed pattern of asana became boring. If they had mixed it up or inserted variations I would have found it more enjoyable in the long run as there are Soooo many asana doesn't seem unreasonable.

Give it a try over say 2 wks, you will feel the difference. As a plus, some very major hotties in skimpy sweaty...nevermind.

hope that helped.

-Karl. Peace and Sweat.

My sister in law is a Bikram teacher. She is certified which is a time and cash intensive program. I have heard similar compaints about the unchanging "inflexible" class structure. I have never done it though.

Thanks guys.

Karl, how often do you train? As I mentioned, this place sells packages by the session, week, month, quarter, year...
the more you go, the less it costs per hour. That said, when it comes down to it, you still have to fork out an amount of money, regardless of how it is justified!

Can any of you guys tell is it a "flowing" series, like in Astanga? By "flowing" I mean they move from one asana/posture to the next without "resetting".

Hey prizewriter,

as mentioned after about 3-4 months I was insanely board by the repetitious asana. The owners of 'Big Rons' Bikram (neat pay on words for a business huh) offered 2 free trials and the monthly contract was cheapest...It's been quite a while but I believe it was near $80/mo to attend any 3 days per week...prices may have changed.

They do have a super nice facility including spacious changing rooms, each with a shower, 5 gal jugs of spring water (they were gracious about filling my large H2O bottle as long as came with one full). The room for asana was comfortably carpeted, but they did require (thankfully for hygiene) at least two large towels and 1 - 2 small sweat towels. They had their certificates on the wall near the entrance and were all cool bout me writing and checking their certificates.

I have over the years become used to my own series of asana which I like as it allowed me to add the advanced permutations to say spinal twist and head stand...My years of inverted poses are probably over since a spinal fusion of C-5 and C-6. BUT I'm not supposed to fight either and have already incurred a fractured rib and a big honkin scar on my forehead (both from protecting my neck), I've also lost use of my left lung from the disc herniation, but my MD is still amazed at the lung capacity remaining (used to run stadiums)

Bikrams is pricey but good, there is a world of yoga asana out there and some Instructors can impart more of the full world of Yoga (there are 8 'Arms' comprising Yoga, Asana is simply chosen 1st as a way to prepare the body as a vessel to receive the energy and allow it more freedom of movement, Quite Very much as Chi Kung... Investigate...if you dont mind Instructors in white w/ weird a@@ turbans Kundalini Yoga is quite diverse and also exhausting at times...Luck, since its rising popularity Yoga classes have risen in price and lots of folks w/ NOT enough experience...check their credentials..

-Kar. Peace. namaste.

Thanks Karl!

There is a Kundalini place in the city where I work. May be worth checking out. I have only seen the asana part of their yoga to be honest.

Sorry for all the questions, but may I ask if you found moving in to the asanas any easier in the Bikram class? I know the science says it should be easier, but on a personal level, did you find it any easier compared to performing asana in a different yoga class or at home?

Thanks again!

hey prizewriter,

As began learning Iyengar yoga, He stressed asana/ counter asana, e.g. forward bend then back bend, as things became more complex it was forward bend w/ variations and back bend w/ variations.

Primarily then under Gurudev Desai, founder of Kripalu yoga, the key to Kripalu was yoga in motion. He was practicing asana when "his body took over" and out flowed a series of asana linked and performed in continual motion (much as one would do 'salute to the sun').

My own series which I developed over time is kinda a combo of the two...

I did not notice appreciable difference in easy of motion as no asana is static... one is inhale and as exhale one sinks deeper into the pose...to ensure Lt and Rt are equal attention I focus on breath and each side gets 10 slow breaths...this is in a sense just what I do.

Kundalini yoga will have some VERY intense asana (tho they do not appear as asana per se) where the breathing needs be as tho one is exercising quite much. Might even be a bit sore the next day. They also emphasize purification of body and these type of asana will have you breathing as though doing "Breath of Fire", a cleansing in itself...

So...No, Asana done where one moves slowly by breath will allow one to move into pose as well...your body will heat up on its own quite well as asana is done properly, ambient heat or no.

-Karl. Peace. 'Ware signing contracts...needless to say

P.S. B.K.S. Iyengar has a great series of books, "Light on Yoga" starts with cautions,read this 1st then has pret near all asana with thier variations including internal cleansing, the others include translations of Patanjali 2500yr old treatise on yoga, a book on Pranayma and one called the "Tree of Yoga"...all good stuff.

Once more, thanks Karl!

I agree that doing asana can heat up the body. I don't see the need for it to be in a heated room.

In Astanga, the opening two sun salutations are done 5 times each, and the body is really warm after doing that.

I also reckon you could do two Astanga/Kundalini classes in the city near me for the price of one Bikram class.