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Bikram’s Yoga | Bikram Choudhury | The benefits | Why the heat | Postures
Bikram’s Yoga [back]
Bikram’s Yoga is a series of 26 postures conducted over 90 minutes, beginning with a breathing exercise to warm up, progressing through 24 asanas (postures) and finishing with a toxin-eliminating breathing posture. This series of postures was scientifically designed to systematically work through the entire body.
Classes are held in a heated room. The warm room:
- allows for greater flexibility,
- minimises muscle strain,
- reduces the chance of injury,
- promotes greater cleansing of the body, and
- helps build stamina and endurance.
The room is mirrored to enable better body awareness and refinement and deepening of postures through easy self-correction. No special equipment or props are required.
Each posture in the series warms and prepares the body for the next posture. In the heated room you will gradually work deeper into your muscles, tendons and ligaments, stretching, strengthening and toning – changing your body both inside and outside.
The poses work synergistically and to return the body to a balanced state. The yoga assists to build energy, stamina and flexibility. The postures have a torniquet effect, stretching, squeezing and massaging the internal organs, flushing out the cardiovascular system and stimulating the endocrine and nervous systems. The well-maintained body is self-regulating and self-adjusting.
As we age, our muscles tend to stiffen, creating more pressure on the joints. Regular stretching prevents this gradual stiffening and joint deterioration, which is why yoga has such a rejuvenating effect. Through a regular workout, we liberate a vast amount of energy that we can use in daily life. We look, move and feel younger. The series works equally well for beginners and advanced students.
Whether your goal is to lose weight, learn to relax, aid in the healing of injuries or illness, strengthen, stretch or tone your body, or simply to achieve overall well-being, Bikram Yoga is suited to all levels of health and fitness.
It is a beginning class: anybody can do it – any age, size, shape, condition, background, or problem.
We do only beginning Yoga postures – nothing that can hurt or injure you. The postures are maintained motionless at maximum effort, (which is a primary principle of Hatha Yoga), not in continuous movement.
Although the first emphasis is on the correctness and safety of the postures, the class is challenging, and you will have to make demands of yourself. It requires tremendous concentration, careful listening to the teacher's dialogue (precise instructions), patience, determination, trust, and discipline. As these are required of you, they also develop within you.
Bikram’s Yoga can assist in reducing the symptoms of chronic illness and injury, and is an excellent preventative and rehabilitative tool. If you are looking for an all-over mind and body workout then Bikram’s Yoga is for you. Be prepared to raise your heart rate (yes, this is a cardiovascular workout), sweat, strain, laugh, and do more for your body and general well-being than you ever imagined possible.
You'll find you want to do this practice. It's fun. It works. You'll start organizing your schedule to fit it in. Remember that this yoga is powerful and challenging, pace yourself; don't force yourself; and don't expect to be perfect overnight! (If you're experiencing health or emotional issues, yoga will support you, so come as often as you can). It's our job to push you to achieve your best; it is your responsibility to know what is enough for your body on any given day. Progress is a slow, sure, but an enjoyable process! Your improvement will depend entirely on the time and effort you put in. Respect your limits (without babying yourself), and expect those limits to change. Just do your best. The harder this yoga is for you, the more you need it and the more you will get out of it. There is no need to show off, nor is there a need to be embarrassed about your level of practice. The secret in the success is in the FREQUENCY of your practice. All the hard work pays off. The effort you put into this yoga will return to you in many ways. It's the very best thing you can do for your health, your body, your vitality, and your sense of well being.
Bikram’s teacher, Bishnu Ghosh, said "Never too late, never too old, never too bad", to which Bikram has added: "never too sick... to start from scratch once again."
For more information, see Bikram’s official website at the www.bikramyoga.com [back]
Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class
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1. Pranayama Breathing
2. Ardha Chandrasana - Half Moon Pose
3. Utkatasana - Awkward Pose
4. Garurasana - Eagle Pose
5. Dandayamana Janushirasana - Standing Head to Knee
6. Dandayamana Dhanurasana - Standing Bow Pulling Pose
7. Tuladandasana - Balancing Stick pose
8. Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimotthanasa - Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose
9. Trikonasana - Triangle Pose
10. Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Janushirasana - Standing
Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose
11. Tadasana - Tree Pose
12. Padangustasana - Toe Stand
13. Savasana - Corpse Pose
14. Pavana Muktasana - Wind Removing Pose
15. Sit-up
16. Bhujangasana - Cobra Pose
17. Salabhasana - Locust Pose
18. Poorna Salabhasana - Full Locust Pose
19. Dhanurasana - Bow Pose
20. Supta Vajrasna - Fixed Firm Pose
21. Ardha Kurmasana - Half-Tortoise Pose
22. Ustrasana - Camel Pose
23. Sasangasana - Rabbit Pose
24. Janushiransa with Paschimotthanasana - Head to Knee
with Stretchig Pose
25. Ardha Matsyendrasana - Spine Twisting Pose
26. Kapalbhati Breathing - Breath of Fire
A note about names: Different schools of yoga have slightly different names for postures. Sometimes people get unduly attached to names. Each form is different, and sometimes there are significant differences in execution.
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Bikram Choudhury [back]
Bikram Choudhury is an internationally renowned Yoga teacher from India, who has taught over three million students. He took his system to the United States in 1971, at the invitation of the American Medical Association.
Born in Calcutta, Bikram began studying Yoga at the age of four with his teacher Bishnu Ghosh, brother of Paramahansa Yogananda (author of “Autobiography of a Yogi”, and founder of the Self Realization Fellowship). Bikram practiced Yoga four to six hours a day with six thousand other students at Ghosh’s College of Physical Education in Calcutta. At the age of thirteen, he won the National India Yoga contest and remained undefeated for three years. At the request of his teacher, he withdrew from competition and gave Yoga demonstrations instead. This earned him the title of “Yoga-Raj”. He is the youngest ever to earn such a title.
As a young man he was a top cyclist, marathon runner and international weight lifter, competing in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. At the age of 20, Bikram severely injured his knee in a weightlifting accident and was told by doctors he would never walk again. Not accepting this, Bikram went back to Bishnu Ghosh’s school, for he knew that if anyone could help to heal his knee, it would be his teacher. Bishnu Ghosh put him through a slow and careful therapy program that totally rehabilitated his knee within 6 months. Ghosh was a celebrated physical culturist, and the first to scientifically document Yoga’s ability to cure chronic physical ailments and heal the body.
Bikram was asked by Ghosh to start several Yoga schools in India. Bikram came into his own. The schools were so successful that, at Bishnu’s request, Bikram travelled to Japan and opened two more. Under the guidance of his teacher, Bikram worked for three years with doctors and scientists at Tokyo University Hospital and developed his unique Hatha yoga program. He has since brought his curative methods of Yoga therapy around the world.
All Bikram’s Yoga teachers are required to complete an intensive 500-hour certification process in Los Angeles, and be approved, before they are allowed to conduct classes.
For more information, see Bikram’s official website at the www.bikramyoga.com [back]
Why the heat [back]
The benefits are many:
- Muscles, fascia and connective tissue become more elastic, allowing for greater flexibility with less chance of injury
- Sweating is promoted, which assists the detoxification process ·
- Blood becomes thinner, clearing the circulatory system
- Endurance is boosted through consistent practice
- Your body burns fat more effectively: fat may be redistributed and burned as energy during the class. It is common to lose centimetres in a very short time.
- The heat produces a fluid-like stretch, allowing for greater range of movement in joints, muscles, ligaments and other supporting structures of the body
- Capillaries dilate in the heat; more effectively oxygenating the tissues, muscles, glands and organs and helping in the removal of waste products
- Your peripheral circulation improves
- Your metabolism speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids
- Willpower, self-control, concentration and determination are strengthened in this challenging environment
- Your heart-rate becomes elevated, and the cardiovascular system gets a thorough workout – heart and lungs.
Just as when your body raises its temperature to fight infection, the raised temperature in the room may assist in improving the proper functioning of your immune system.
The Benefits of Bikram’s Yoga [back]
With regular practice, discipline and honest effort you will:
- Reshape your body
- Reduce the risk of sports injury
- Reduce the effects of stress
- Clear your mind and calm your soul
- Tone and strengthen muscles
- Develop increased strength, balance, flexibility, coordination and endurance
- Increase your energy level
Bikram’s Yoga:
- Teaches you to breathe fully and correctly
- Helps reduce symptoms of chronic illnesses and injuries
- Helps promote better sleep – you may even need less sleep
- Promotes a deep sense of well-being and a peaceful mind
- Helps in weight-loss and toning
- Improves posture and body awareness
- Improves flexibility of your spine in its range of motion in all directions, allowing improvement in the functioning of your central nervous system. Better nervous system communication means a better functioning body and mind
- Improves the healing and regenerative powers of your body
- Maintains (and regains) youthful appearance and skin tone
- Works all systems of the body: cardiovascular, nervous, lymphatic, endocrine, immune, digestive, reproductive, muscular and skeletal
- Helps to reduce stress
- Helps improve heart and lung capacity
- Lubricates the joints
- Helps to eliminate back pain by strengthening the spine;
- Builds mental strength by holding your mind in a focused, meditative state.
- Gives the body a cardiovascular workout without negative impacting forces.
Disclaimer: The benefits suggested for Bikram’s Yoga are based on scientific and anecdotal evidence of improvement in many conditions - both chronic and acute - that have been witnessed by medical staff, teachers or students over many years of practicing Bikram’s Yoga. They should not be construed as a guarantee that these benefits will definitely occur for all yoga students. Consistent practice will always be the best approach. Use your own body wisdom.
This information is not intended to replace advice from your medical practitioner or natural therapies practitioner.
The therapeutic, curative, preventive, and overall health benefits of Bikram’s Yoga are legendary. Since Bikram’s 3 year Research Project with Doctors at the Tokyo University Medical School (Japan, 1970-73), studying the effects of Yoga, countless people have practiced Bikram’s Yoga to overcome chronic problems of all kinds. (Please click here for Testimonials) It takes practice, consistency, and a determination not to give up and to "try the right way," to gain the full life-enhancing effects of the Yoga practice. With Bikram’s Yoga, you develop the foundation for anything you want to achieve and maintain in life: athletically, professionally, physically, mentally, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually.
You will be encouraged to challenge yourself to improve, make better, and maintain your health, your spine, and your life. Bikram’s teacher, Bishnu Ghosh, said "Never too late, never too old, never too bad" and Bikram added "never too sick... to start from scratch once again." [back to top]
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