I love Bikram Yoga. I first discovered it when I was fasting in Thailand. We were doing outdoor morning yoga and it was very hot. I had never been very keen on yoga, mainly because I was so useless at it! But the heat made my body a lot more flexible, I could bend further, and I felt fantastic afterwards. This led me to finding a Bikram class on my return to London. I love the feeling of the endorphins flowing through my body after a class (they say 900 calories a class!). Best of all it does not put a strain on my body like running does, and it helps enormously with my adhesion pain.
Bikram Yoga is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional hatha yoga techniques and popularized beginning in the early 1970s. Bikram's classes run exactly 90 minutes and consist of a set series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is ideally practiced in a room heated to 40.6°C with a humidity of 40%, and is the most popular form of hot yoga (a series of yoga poses done in a heated room).
Bikram Yoga's goal is general health and Bikram Choudhury says that the heated studio helps deeper stretching and injury prevention, while reducing stress and tension. Bikram claims that his system stimulates and restores health to every muscle, joint, and organ of the body. Bikram's Yoga claims to increase circulation to all organs in the body, and that this helps in the prevention of heart disease and organ failure. According to Choudhury, many people only use up to 50 percent of their lung capacity and thus the lungs must be stretched in order to withstand holding more oxygen. In a 2007 interview, Choudhury stated that when one is practicing pranayama she or he will eventually be able to enhance oxygen conversion and absorption, as well as improve blood circulation.
Choudhury claims that blood circulation is affected immensely during Bikram Yoga because of two processes called extension and compression. These two dynamics are said to work together to deliver fresh blood to every joint, muscle, and organ within the body. While performing a specific asana (pose), the practitioner stretches or compresses a certain part of the body, thus cutting off circulation temporarily. This restriction of circulation is believed to cause the heart to pump more blood in reaction to the shortage. The pumping of excess, fresh blood is called extension. Once the asana is complete and the individual comes out of the posture, it is claimed that the new oxygenated blood is able to rejuvenate the arteries that were being compressed. Many of the postures massage the lymphatic system and aid in lymphatic drainage, assisting to eliminate infection, bacteria, and toxins. Other styles of yoga also promote this theory.
POSES AND BENEFITS
STANDING DEEP BREATHING
HALF MOON POSE
HANDS TO FEET
AWKWARD POSE
EAGLE
STANDING HEAD TO KNEE
BOW POSE
BALANCING STICK
STANDING SEPARATE LEG STRETCHING POSE
TRIANGLE
STANDING SEPARATE LEG HEAD TO KNEE
TREE POSE
TOE STAND
DEAD BODY POSE
WIND REMOVING POSE
COBRA POSE
LOCUST POSE
FULL LOCUST POSE
BOW POSE
FIXED FIRM POSE
HALF TORTOISE POSE
CAMEL POSE
RABBIT POSE
HEAD TO KNEE AND STRETCHING POSE
SPINE TWISTING POSE
BLOWING IN FIRM POSE
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