Yoga originated in India and is based on the practice of physical poses that are designed to improve the mind, body and spirit. Yoga has evolved over the years to incorporate many different types, each with unique benefits, including hot yoga. Bikram yoga has become a particularly popular style in recent years and is a relatively new form of yoga that is based in ancient yoga practices with aim of achieving optimum mind and body fitness levels whilst engaging in an effective body detoxifying practice.

The concept of Bikram yoga consists of a series of 26 yoga poses (postures) and 2 breathing exercises performed in a room heated to the temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40.5 degrees Celsius) with 40% humidity. The heightened temperature helps to keep the body and muscles warm allowing deeper stretches whilst reducing the risk of injury.

Hot yoga is believed to have many healing and restorative benefits such as detoxifying the body and weight loss as well as creating a feeling of wellness. Bikram yoga can assist in healthy weight loss as the profuse sweating involved rids the body of harmful toxins and improves circulation. This leads to an increase in the body’s metabolism and continued practice builds and tones the muscles and flexibility.

As you continue practicing this form of yoga you will begin to appreciate the benefits of increased energy and general well-being that comes from the knowledge that you are taking care of both your body and health. As a result you will sleep better, develop a healthier appetite and notice a healthy glow to your skin.

It is important to understand that hot yoga can be challenging due to the need to withstand the high temperatures during exercise, which can lead to dizziness, the feeling of nausea and possibly feinting. But by taking precautions in the beginning, such as regular breaks, your stamina and endurance will increase with time and practice.

To prevent dehydration it is important to drink plenty of water before and after each session. It is also essential to have the necessary equipment when doing Hot Yoga, such as appropriate, minimal clothing, your own yoga mat and a towel as you will be sweating profusely.

For more information about this form of yoga or to find the appropriate equipment visit http://newhotroomyoga.com/.

Founding of Bikram Hot Yoga

Bikram Choudhury was an Olympic champion. In the 1960′s, he won the gold medal for weight lifting. He adapted traditional yoga techniques and incorporated the naturally hot and humid environment of India. He designed Bikram yoga as a form of yoga which increases muscular strength, endurance and weight loss.

Choudhury has gone to great lengths to keep his form of yoga intact and guarded from misinterpretation. To even teach this form of yoga, you must be licensed by Choudhury after attending his Yoga College of India in California. While there may be similar sounding yoga classes throughout the country, in order to legally be considered a real Bikram hot yoga class, these criteria must be met.

How is it Different from Traditional Yoga Practices?

Bikram hot yoga is done in a room heated to 105 degrees. The humidity levels in the room are typically from 40% to 60%. It is the only kind of yoga which utilizes heat as part of the components of the sessions. The heat is essential to making this more of a workout technique rather than a relaxation time. An extreme amount of perspiration is expelled, cleansing the body of toxins. It is important to be properly hydrated before beginning to avoid any dehydration issues. The heat gets the cardiovascular system pumping for an ultimate workout and allows the body to stretch further and hold poses longer, which increase endurance and strength.

The session involves a total of 26 postures, or asanas. These are done in a specific order and repeated again. The poses are each held for roughly 10 to 60 seconds. The session lasts for 90 minutes. The first twelve poses are standing poses. The others are all done lying on the floor and sitting.

The Poses of Bikram Hot Yoga

1. Standing deep breathing pose
2. Half moon pose and hands to feet
3. Awkward pose
4. Eagle pose
5. Standing head to knee pose
6. Standing bow pulling pose
7. Balancing stick pose
8. Standing separate leg stretching pose
9. Triangle pose
10. Standing separate leg head to knee pose
11. Tree pose
12. Toe stand pose
13. Dead body pose
14. Wind removing pose
15. Sit up
16. Cobra pose
17. Locust pose
18. Full locust pose
19. Bow pose
20. Fixed firm pose
21. Half tortoise pose
22. Camel pose
23. Rabbit pose
24. Head to knee pose
25. Spine twisting pose
26. Blowing in Firm pose

Aside from the obvious benefits of Bikram yoga, there are other benefits to doing Bikram hot yoga that may not be seen right away. Choudhury and others who are devoted followers of this type of yoga claim symptoms of various ailments can be alleviated by doing this type of yoga at least ten times a month, if not daily. The symptoms of multiple sclerosis and autoimmune disorders may be helped by doing Bikram yoga. Because of the intense cleansing of toxins and opening of pores, some have found their skin is healthier, brighter and free from issues such as eczema.

While some may feel this hard-core version of yoga loses some of the spirituality and calming effects yoga is meant to enhance, others feel it is the best way to combine the benefits of traditional yoga with a cardio workout.

Please click here for more information about Bikram yoga dangers.

There are many other great things about the Bikram Yoga and the twenty-six poses that are included in it. Listed below are some of the more famous questions the many great things you will get from Bikram Yoga poses.

1. Pranayama Breathing – brings about mental relaxing, helps to bring on good breathing, blood flow, and relaxes the nerves. It will also give the body a way to detoxify itself.

2. Half Moon Pose – will help you with constipation, any pain in the lower part of the back, fat in the belly, cold shoulders, and spinal problems. You can also get great things from a pose that will help the internal organs like the pancreas, kidneys, and colon. You can also improve some of the muscles in the body like the trapezeus, the deltoid, the hamstring, and the pectoralis major.

3. Eagle Pose – this pose will help to make the pelvis more open, take care of knee pain and arthritis, make the legs stronger, help with pain in the sciatica nerve, and make the toes and ankles to have a better range of motion. It will improve the look of the quadriceps and the deltoid muscles.

4. Standing Bow Pose – This pose will improve the circulation of the blood to the heart and the lungs. It will also make the spine stretch more and that in turn will help with any pain in the lower part of the back. It will also open the diaphragm and the lungs.

5. Triangle Pose – This pose is a great thing for the kidneys. It will help to balance out any chemical problems and this will help to get rid of a hard stool, colitis, spondilitis, female menstrual problems, hip pain, and back pain. This pose will also help you to improve the heart and the cardio system. The blood circulation, immune system, muscle system, digestion, and reproduction are also helped by this pose.

6. Tree Pose – You will get a better range of motion in the knees and the hips. It will also help you to reduce the amounts of swelling in the bottom part of the back and help to relax the stomach muscles.

7. Toe Stand – This yoga pose will give you a complete balance between the mind and the spirit of the body. You will find that you will have stronger joints and muscles in the belly. Your knee problems will also get better as will problems with gout and arthritis.

You will get many more things out of practicing this form of yoga. Your whole health attitude and condition will be better because of how strong and balanced you will become with every body system. When you are in better health, you will have fewer problems with getting sick, hurt and signs of aging.

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This is a very intense yoga workout.There are two breathing exercises and around 26 poses involved in this type of yoga. The yoga room itself will normally have mirrors and be carpeted. The breath exercises are done every 15 minutes. Bikram yoga has many benefits including the relief of chronic pain and even symptoms from some diseases.

Yoga master Bikram Choudhury, was born in 1946, and is still alive. He has been known to file lawsuits against institutions that attempt to teach generic versions of his method. He refuses to allow his name to be attached to generic yoga practiced in a hot room, demanding that instructors of Bikram yoga follow his proscribed yoga methods and be properly certified from his institute, the Yoga College of India, which was founded in 1974. Bikram has tried to gain copyrights to his 26 poses and tries to claim rights over all sequences that have substantial similarity. Some franchises of yoga studios are concerned by his methods of self expansion to say the least. Bikram Choudhury s an instructor at a yoga college in Mumbai, India. He also teaches at other worthy Truth About Hot Yoga locations worldwide.

Some studios, and teachers are known to use the term “Hot Yoga” to avoid lawsuit. In most cases any yoga that takes place in a hot room can be called “Hot Yoga”; it may or may not precisely follow Bikram Choudhury’s precise proscribed methods. If your considering taking a class be sure that the studio and teachers are certified to teach you this method in the appropriate manner. It may be best to choose a class that is Bikram yoga certified.

You will want to prepare your self before joining a Hot Yoga class. You will need to bring your own mat, and your own towel due to the profuse sweating. Dress accordingly and drink plenty of water before hand. The temperature of the hot room will cause dehydration very quickly. It’s a good rule to drink at least 8 glasses of water on days you have Hot Yoga classes.

Do not attempt Hot Yoga if you are an expecting mommy. Hot Yoga will raise your body temperature and this is not good for your baby. You will need to be accustomed to exercise and doing yoga, and have a high tolerance for heat before signing up for it. If you don’t have much experience in yoga, you should not start out with this particular type. The hot environment will make it much more difficult to learn the poses and focus.

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• muscles become more elastic and therefore less susceptible to injury
• your body burns fat more effectively
• sweating is promoted which assists your body to detoxify
• suitable for all ages from beginners to experienced yogi’s

Hot Yoga or Bikram Yoga is a 90 minute open eye meditation which reduces stress, calms and focuses the mind.

When I attended my first class, I was amazed! It was run like an Aerobics class, with an instructor at the front with a microphone, and little marks on the floor to show where to place your mats. I was certainly a bit dubious. I was told to stand at the back as I was a beginner (I was pretty happy about that, I liked being at the back) and to keep my eyes forward and to try to attempt every pose.

We started with a breathing exercise which prepares you for your class. From there we began the standing series (12 poses) and then progressed to the floor series (14 poses) finishing with a cleansing breathing exercise. The poses were no different to yoga that I had previously done, other than they were done in a certain format, which stays the same each class, and each pose is done twice. Some people don’t like this as they believe that yoga is about doing different poses each time and that this gets a bit boring, but Bikram is just one form of yoga. The reason for doing the poses in the same format, is because each pose prepares you for the next, and gets more challenging as you go. I actually enjoy this aspect of Bikram, because it allows me to gauge how I have improved from class to class.

Bikram is actually designed for the beginner Yogii and you are only ever focusing on yourself, not others so there is no need to feel self-conscious. By being at the back when you first start, you have students in front of you who are a bit more experienced and have attended Bikram before, so you can watch them if you’re not sure what to do, although the instructor is always walking around the room and correcting as you go.

I really love doing Bikram Yoga. To me it is an overall workout which builds strength and flexibility, increases your aerobic fitness level (yes yoga can do that!) as well as gives all of your internal organs a workout. It is also wonderful for your skin, face and body. Always remember to shower or swim directly after the class as the sweating removes toxins from your body and you don’t want that to stay on your skin. Your skin will glow and feel so much more alive.

To me, Hot Yoga is the best form of exercise that I’ve come across in years and the Hot Yoga Home Practice Kit as well as the Hot Yoga Master Class are a great way to enhance your practice or just practice safely in the comfort of your own home, with many tips for practising Hot Yoga with injuries. Hot Yoga Fan. These are in DVD format, and come with an extensive illustrated Instruction Manual.

Benjaporn, 31, followed a training course and received certification as a Bikram yoga instructor in New York earlier this year.

Introduced to the Western world for the first time in Los Angeles in 1974 by Bikram Choudhury, this form of yoga immediately differentiated itself from other schools.

Bikram yoga does not require the numerous and complex asanas (postures). A 90-minute session is composed of just 26 simple postures and is carried out in a room heated to about 34 degrees Celsius. Thus, it comes as no surprise to hear that many people have nicknamed Bikram yoga the “hot yoga”.

“That’s the main way in which Bikram differs from other types of yoga. I personally feel it’s a perfect combination of yoga, a work out and meditation. And that makes it even better! You get to stretch, meditate and sweat a lot. It gets rid of all the pain and aches in your muscles and also clears your mind,” says Benjaporn.

Its inventor drew up new postures and drew upon some basic yoga poses to help strengthen his muscles after a severe childhood injury crippled him. Benjaporn says that all the 26 poses of Bikram yoga are easy yet offer maximum muscle strengthening.

“You won’t find any compromising poses in Bikram yoga. That’s because Bikram himself wanted to create yoga poses that were easy for him at that time, but I assure you that all enable the same maximum muscle build-up, stretching and strengthening effect. And during the 90 minutes of our class, we want to make sure that you can complete all 26 poses without skipping or compromising any particular one to make it easier on yourself. It’s simple and I’m sure everyone will be able to follow it. Here, we encourage you to work at your own pace and stay within your own limits. But we also make sure that you don’t short-change yourself,” says Benjaporn.

Benjaporn recommends Bikram yoga to anyone in good health aged 10 and above. She also stresses that beginners should come to classes regularly – she suggests three or four times a week – to see and feel the improvements in their well-being.

“Most people will experience an improvement in the knee and back area. Many also say that they’ve shed some unwanted kilos. During and after class, I encourage my students to drinks a lot of fluids so they won’t dehydrate.”

Benjaporn Karoonkornsakul, the Managing Director, founder and owner of Absolute Yoga Bangkok (http://www.absoluteyogabangkok.com) has trained to become the first bikram hot yoga teacher in Bangkok. After the first year, Absolute Yoga Bangkok branched out to offer other traditions of yoga and opened more locations to distinguish ourselves as Bangkok’s dedicated yoga place. Our future plans are to continue to expand both in locations and in what is most beneficial to the practioners of Thailand.

There are three main options available to solve the dilemma of the sweat and traction together in one. They range from super simple and cheap to just buying a tool exactly for the job, which is a great way to solve things.;-) Option 1 – use a towel with your regular yoga mat. Well you probably didn’t need to read this to know that, but really a towel will work. It will keep all the sweat under control, but when it comes to traction just be careful cause the towel does not give you the traction you need for postures. So you can’t practice on it you can just use it alongside your yoga mat. Option 2 – use a proper Bikram yoga mat towel. These nifty little things are much thinner. They look like micro fiber and they start around $20 and up. You lay it over your mat and voila you can practice on it as well as use it to wick the moistness away. Option 3 – this is also obvious but some people don’t know about it, and that is to buy a mat specifically for Bikram Yoga. These mats are sticky on the bottom and soft yet absorbing on the top! Well now this sounds like what we are looking for! It is the only thing is that they can be hard to come by.

Bikram Yoga mats, although hard to come by are the best option available if you are strictly doing this style of yoga. They are specific to managing sweat and traction in one. They have 3 main qualities to them, not to different from regular yoga but slightly varied. The bottom is sticky so the mat stays put, the main part of the mat is designed for cushioning and then the top layer is most definitely for sweat absorption. These full meal deals can often be washed in the machine and put in the dryer, which is really easy maintenance compared to other yoga mats out there. Pricing you can expect to pay $60 and up for a Bikram yoga mat. Shop around and online is really the best place to start.

There are a few other choices that exist to cover your Bikram yoga needs. There are cotton yoga rugs that are apparently quite good in these types of conditions. And their history substantiates this too given they have been used longer then anything else on the market, and in places like India and abroad. The cotton yoga mats are woven. They give good cushioning combined with good traction. Once there is a bit of moisture your hands and feet will adhere really well. The other mat that may work well for you is the Lululemon Hot Yogi Mat. This mat, although not specific to Bikram yoga, would work well. It is priced really well at $35 for all the great qualities that it has to offer.

The perfect mat for you is out there. You will be well served by looking online and speaking with other Bikram yoga students to get some additional input on what works best for them. There are a plethora of options to choose from so if you hit any roadblocks it may be from having to many choices at hand. In the end all that matters is that you find something you are happy with that will work well for you.

Charlise Cadeau is a free lance writer, yoga instructor and world traveler. Check out http://beblissyoga.com to answer more of your Yoga questions.

First of all, there are a few things that you are going to want to make sure to take to the gym with you. These items include a yoga mat, a sweatband, towels, deodorant and a non-stick mat cover. The main reason why you will need all of these things is because this type of yoga is practiced at 105 degrees. This means that you can expect to sweat a lot.

In general, when you dress for this type of yoga, there are some materials that are much better than others. For example, a thin cotton is much better to wear than a thicker cotton or any other fabric. The thin cotton allows your skin to breathe a little more and decreases the amount of sweat you produce. When performing this kind of yoga, never wear any kind of sweatshirts or sweatpants. You will work up a sweat regardless of what you are wearing.

Wear as little clothing as you feel comfortable with. It may depend on where the class is held and with whom you will be exercising, but a good general rule is to wear as little as possible when performing Bikram yoga. Wear shorts instead of pants. Short sleeve shirts are always a better option than long sleeve shirts.

A headband is a necessary addition. Although this type of yoga usually requires those doing the yoga to want to wear as little as possible, the exception comes in the form of a headband. If you have long hair (or sometimes even short hair) the sweat makes your hair heavier and causes it to fall into your eyes. If you have long hair, you may also want to bring hair ties with you. It can be very hard to try to do this type of yoga with your hair down.

No socks and shoes means no problem. Although most places require socks and shoes, one of the places where you definitely do not want these items is at a yoga facility where you are performing Bikram yoga. The socks will only cause you to slip on your mat, and shoes are almost never allowed in the practice rooms of any kind of yoga school.

By dressing accordingly, there is a good chance that you will not only be able to get through your yoga courses, but you also might actually be able to enjoy them. Just think of it as going to the beach on a hot summer day. If you would not wear a certain item to the beach on a day like that, then you probably should not wear it to the yoga studio either.

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for Web sites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background also includes teaching, yoga, and health and fitness. For more of her useful articles on yoga, visit Meditation and the Brain.

For a completely different experience, there is Bikram yoga. Also known as Hot yoga, Bikram is a modern style, focusing on a set series of poses performed in a heated room. The creator of the style, Bikram Choudhury, designated twenty-six poses that constitute the Bikram style. The temperature of the room is ideally set to 105 degrees. By keeping the room at a high temperature, the muscles of the body are more flexible. This is a controversial style because of an intellectual property lawsuit by Choudhury. Only those yoga instructors, certified in his method, are permitted to teach Bikram yoga.

On the other end of the timeline is Kundalini yoga. An ancient form, that is relatively new to the West, Kundalini focuses on the spiritual aspects of yoga. The yoga instructor leads students through a series of poses, making sure that movement is linked with breath. The idea behind this discipline is to cause dormant energy in the lower body to become free and move upwards. For students seeking an athletic workout, Kundalini is not the place to look; but it is still an important style for a yoga instructor to understand.

From the purely physical yoga, to the more spiritual forms, a yoga instructor must be well versed. If you want to be a great yoga instructor, you should understand the basics of each major style, even while you focus on your favorite style. In this way, you’ll be ready to answer any student’s question and guide them to the right style.

© Copyright 2008 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, has written many books on the subject of Yoga. He is a co-owner and the Director of Yoga Teacher Training at: Aura Wellness Center, in Attleboro, MA. http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com He has been a certified Master Yoga Teacher since 1995. To receive a Free Yoga e-Book: “Yoga in Practice,” and a Free Yoga Newsletter, please visit: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/index.html

What is there in a Hot Yoga session?

A Hot Yoga session constitutes of two different type of sessions. A standing series of Yoga postures that you will have to do standing. These postures are aimed at increasing your strength, balance and endurance. The other series is called as the mat series, in which practitioners will focus more on stretching and improving the body flexibility. A typical Hot Yoga session will last from 60 to 90 minutes.

What should one typically wear?

The usual lightweight clothing, anti-sweat athletic wear that dries quickly will do just great. For men its light tees with shorts and women can wear a tank top or sports bra with shorts or lightweight yoga-style pants.

What to Do before a Hot Yoga session?

Before coming, ensure that you have plenty of water. 1-2L through out the day is recommended. Don’t eat 2 3 hours before the session is to start. Remember not to wear perfume or deodarants to the session, as the heat and humidity inside the room will intensify the scent.

What to bring along?

A mat to practise Yoga on, a towel, and water are most important. Most studios offer these amenities, but its always best to get your own. A change of clothes can also be brought along if you don’t have a locker at the studio.

What are the benefits?

Yoga works on many levels. Its strengthens the mind, body and spirit. In the long run, after regular sessions of hot yoga, the benefits will slowly seep into your conscious. There are some instant benefits too that will make you feel relaxed, energized and completely destressed.

- The heat burns lots of calories and this greatly helps in weight reduction
- It softens the collagen present in joints and hence reduces rigidity in the joints
- The heat also increases the metabolism in the body
- Curbs anxiety and depression and significantly decreases panic attacks
- Regular Yoga helps improve body posture
- Runners, golfers, boxers, tennis players and numerous sports person benefit from this technique.

What precautions to take before practising Hot Yoga?

Take care that you learn and practise Hot Yoga under a certified or well trained Yoga instructor only. Also remember that pregnant women are not advised to practise Hot Yoga as it raises the core body temperature.

Hi, I am Janit. I am a Technical Writer and I do a lot of freelancing work too. I have been blogging since the last three years now. For reading a lot of my articles you can visit my blogs at http://www.sylvanscribbles.blogspot.com or http://www.satyam-news.blogspot.com I also do a lot of travel photography. Thanks for the visit.