Bikram Yoga

Bikram Yoga is a very intense form of yoga created by Bikram Choudhury, in which 26 different postures are performed in a room with a temperature of 105 F and 40% humidity. The aims is that the high temperature and humidity will cause your body to heat up resulting in you sweating and detoxifying the body.

Each of the 26 different postures are performed once, very slowly, they are then repeated in order to increase the stretching of the posture and allow you to gain more confidence in performing the postures. Performing the postures slowly is a key part of Bikram yoga, as your body will be very warm from the heat you will feel as though you can stretch your body a lot further than normal however you may end up stretching you body to far and cause yourself an injury. This is way the postures are performed slowly so that you can stretch your body within its limits.

There are a number of benefits of Bikram yoga, for starters the heat will increase the overall effectiveness of the stretches, as previously discussed you will be able to stretch your body further.

You will also get improved flexibility as your body will be warmed up which will help to loose up and lubricate your joints.

Although beginners will likely find that they will feel dizzy and sick when they first start Bikram yoga after a few sessions you will notice that it is a great way to reduce and relieve stress and tension, as it provides you will a great form of mediation.

There are a number of factors that need to be considered before starting Bikram yoga, firstly you will need a mat that has a high level of friction as you will be sweating a lot and your mat needs to stop you from slipping when performing the postures.

You will also need to make sure that you are well hydrated before the session and have water on hand during the session if needed. This is important as the sessions usually last for 90 minutes and you will have lost a lot of water from sweating and will need to keep your fluids up so that you do not get dehydrated.

The last thing you need to consider is the clothing that you will wear, this is important as you will want to wear as little clothing as possible. The clothing that you do wear should be very light and not cause you to sweat any more than normal. You may find that shorts and a vest or tank top are the best.

Bikram Yoga is a great way to improve your fitness levels and reduce stress while enjoying overall better health and well being.