Feeling Hot Hot Hot with Bikram Yoga

Perhaps against our better judgment, 4 of my TeachStreet colleagues and I decided to enter the wonderful, weird (and hot!) world of Bikram yoga together last Friday night. Fred is a frequenter of the Sweatbox (loved by Yelpers everywhere), and he convinced us to tag along. I’m wondering if some (not me of course) came along just to leave work a few hours early.

Undertaking athletic endeavors with colleagues with can sometimes be awkward (like if you join the office softball team only to realize that your boss is the poorest sport on the planet, or that the guy from accounting actually swears like a sailor).

Additionally, Bikram yoga (also known as hot yoga) up’s the ante on the potential weirdness factor seeing that you’re in a room that’s heated to 105 degrees so you’re sweating like a pig AND the outfits of choice for Bikram yoga practitioners is the less the better (see below).

Here’s some bikram menswear found on the official Bikram site.
(I just had to show you.)

All that said, and even though I was often counting down the minutes left before I could go outside and breathe some cool fresh air, I actually had a great time.

Let’s dig a bit more into Bikram shall we? I think it’s time to find out a little more about this hot yoga craze.

Who is Bikram?

Bikram Choudhury was born in Calcutta, India in 1946 and became a student of Bishnu Gosh (younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda) at the age of four. By the time he was in his teens, Bikram has won the National India Yoga Championship four times.

Left: weight-lifter Bikram as a young man.
Right: Bikram now, in his trademark Speedo, at one of his many training conferences for yoga teachers.

After suffering a horrible knee injury due to weight-lifting at the age of 17 (from which the doc, said he’d never walk again) Bikram returned to his guru Mr. Gosh and continued his yoga training. He was back to perfect health in 6 months.

From then on, Bikram Choudhury began opening yoga schools and eventually became known for his own brand of “Bikram Yoga”, which he’s taught with his wife Rajashree Choudhury all over the world. He currently operates the Yoga College of India which is based in California, and has trained thousands of yogis and yoginis how to teach Bikram Yoga themselves.

A shot from one of Bikram’s training classes. Bet that room smells awesome.

What is Bikram Yoga?

Straight from the horse’s mouth:

• “Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class is a twenty-six asana series designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the order in which they should be stretched.”
• “Bikram Yoga’s twenty-six posture exercises systematically move fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as Nature intended. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being will automatically follow.”

The 26 poses and 2 breathing exercises are done in the exact same sequence every time, and are always done in a heated room, which is said to improve flexibility and circulation.

What’s this I hear about trademarks?

Bikram Yoga has also been the source of some controversy. Bikram Choudhury first trademarked the poses for “Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class” in 1979. Since then, Mr. Choudhury has asserted that all teachers who want to teach Bikram yoga or any “substantially similar” forms must obtain a license from him. The same is true for studios who want to use the “Bikram” name to describe their yoga classes. Check out Salon or Wikipedia for more info on the intellectual property issues surrounding Bikram yoga. There’s also a new documentary by Bad Dog Tales that touches on the topic.

What are the benefits of Bikram?

Practitioners of Bikram describe all sorts of benefits from doing this type of yoga. Testimonials describe improved flexibility, weight loss, reduction of chronic pain, and even improvement in chronic illnesses like diabetes. In addition to the physical benefits, many people describe improved mental health, emotional calmness, and generally feeling more energetic in their lives.

Each of the poses (or asanas) in Bikram yoga prescribes specific benefits. This is the 8th pose in the set: Dandayamana – Bibhaktapada – Paschimotthanasana (which means “standing separate leg separate pose).

Its health benefits include the following: helps relieve depression, loss of memory, constipation, increases circulation to the brain and adrenal glands, stretches the spine and back of the leg.

Closing thoughts…

Bikram may not be for everyone. It’s certainly intense. And sweaty. Did I mention sweaty? However, what I will say is that I felt better over this weekend (more energized and “with it”) than I have in a while.

For those of you who might be up for something a little more low-key, I recommend this great article from Bindu Magazine called “Yoga Toolkit for Computer Users“. As someone who’s recently found herself logging a few extra hours at the computer lately and who wants to ward off a resurgence of carpel tunnel creeping back in, I’ve found these stretches super helpful. Give them a whirl.

That said, I’ve got my yoga mat and yoga block in my bag today and I’m going to give Bikram another whirl. As much as I’ve complained about the sweating… it’s actually sort of liberating.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Until then, I leave you with my favorite yoga pose, savasana, also known as “corpse pose”. Lovely eh? Well, once you try it, you’ll know how awesome it actually is.

Happy yoga-ing everyone!

p.s. If you’ve tried Bikram or are a fan of other types of yoga (like Hatha, Ashtanga or Kundalini), let’s hear about it! I know there are some die-hard fans out there…