Discussion Board

Yesterday my husband & I took this class. When I walked in the room, I couldn't believe how hot it was! But the class was good. I could do some of the exercises, couldn't do others. Had to rest sometimes, but so did other people. 90 minutes of exercising in almost 100 degrees was a new experience for me. I liked it because it didn't hurt as much to stretch with the hot temperature. The only thing is that the instructor talked incessantly, except for the occasional times he took a breath... Has anyone else tried this? It was fun!

Right now, all I'd have to do is take my mat outside on the patio...well, after sweeping it. It would be just like Bikram! Yes, it's that hot in Tucson already. Bah humbug!

I've never taken the actual Bikram classes. Are the poses they do like normal hatha yoga ones?

In fact, it was so hot that there were wildfires in Fla cities, and also in Georgia. The last 2 days were so smoky, I didn't spend much time outside. It finally rained today so the air is clear again!

Anyway, the link below shows the poses. I really enjoyed exercising in the heat. Sweating releases toxins, and you feel so good afterwards. I'm putting a heater in our workout room!

http://www.yoga-videos.net/hatha-yoga-poses-bikram.htm

Thanks for the link. I've enjoyed exploring around other pages, links, and information from that page--even info. on "emergency preparedness and sustainability".

Wow, I looked at the link you posted and some of those poses whould be very hard for me even if I had stretched a lot in a warm room.
It sounds good to do some stretching and yoga in heat though.

Don't worry - I couldn't do some of the stretches, and not many people were able to do all of them. But it got me into a new habit! I'm now doing cardio and stretching in a HOT room! Feels like I'm burning more calories!

Key is that it was fun. The essential element in my mind.

Bikram Choudhury the founder of this version has built quite a business.
I'm sure his version will work just fine as, no doubt, will all the other versions. Actually there is pending litigation on this very question of his methods and training, versus that of other practioners in the same field.
The uniqueness of his program is being contested or at least the others are saying Bikram does not have a patent on his methods or poses.
That it is done in a hot room matters very little from what I can ascertain.
I doubt that doing the program in a hot room has any, or very little, impact on calories burned, any more than exercising in one of those plastic suits makes one burn any extra calories.
However, its all a matter of enjoyment. If the hot room makes it more fun, then you will do it more. If you do it more then you will burn more calories.
Do whatever makes you want to do more. That is the key to successful lifelong exercise.

As to the exercising in a hot room releasing more toxins.
Why would it release more toxins? More importantly, I've always wondered what makes people think there are toxins to be released?
I'd like to know what toxin I'd be trying to release. How can one know its there, how will it be caused to be released and how will one know if it is released. Finally I'd like to read a real scientific study that shows such toxins are released by such activity.
I don't know why, but I wonder about such things and personally require some science to prove to me that anything at all is happening.
I guess I just don't believe what I hear on the internet about toxics in people's bodies. Kind of like chelation therapy or all those horror stories about colons being full of all manner of old stuff. No proof I've ever seen show such.
Just my thoughts..... but any exercise is good.

Yep, you are right, Purdy! Silly me..... although the idea made sense to me, I didn't get it from any scientific journals.

Doug Lisle told me that I would not release more toxins in a hot room from sweating, as most toxins are released in the urine. He also said I really wouldn't burn any more calories either. However, he did say that stretching was good in a hot room. Stretching should only be done when the muscles are warmed up, not first thing in the a.m.

By the way, his center offers a water fasting program. Has anyone ever done this? I'm tempted to try it, but I really don't know how long I could last with just water. Here's the site:
http://www.healthpromoting.com/index.htm

I have been doing Bikram yoga for almost four years. I'm 54 years old. A number of years ago my weight was pushing 230 wearing the biggest pants I ever owned, a size 42 waist. Now I wear a 34 and depending on which pair of pants I'm wearing, I best not leave home without a belt.

In India yoga postures are prescribed as medicine. Bikram, was at one time an Olympic weight lifter and student of Bishnu Ghosh brother of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi. He developed a series of 26 postures as a general health prescription which is performed in a room heated to 105 degrees to make the body pliable and for elimination of toxicity. He's a brash and colorful character. Bikram Yoga tends to be a polar experience, you either love it, or you hate it. Guess which side of the equation I turn up on?

When I first tried Bikram, a series of standard hatha yoga postures, done the same way every time in a ninety minute class I too was quite aware of the heat. It takes some getting used to. In each of the postures you're getting maximum benefit by simply doing the best you can. The instructors talk the students through each of the postures, offering correction, encouragement and insight as they go.

Initially each of the ninety minutes passes very deliberately, second by second but, surprisingly, as you continue to attend and build a practice, that all changes. When I go to the hot room, just showing up is more than half the job. The class begins and a meditative state transports me to the final savasana (resting pose) with virtually no attention paid to the time.

When class ends there tends to be a recovery period in which my energy goes from subdued to tuned and charged.

Finding The Starch Solution appears to be the attainment of a quest. I feel that achieving the pinnacle of fitness can only be obtained through a 51%/49% effort. The first half of my equation, which may be a conservative number is nutrition, the second half is exercise.

Bikram rocks! Take it from someone who does it everyday. Read the recommendations of those who have only opinions, and little or no experience, or check out the testimonials and get more info at Bikram Yoga College of India.

At 54 I'm not too far off from what I was like physically at 22 doing army recon. If you've discovered Dr McDougall and Bikram, you are very lucky.

ezagent

I'm interesting in learning Bikram Yoga! How many classes you need to go through in order to finish the course? I assume after you graduated, you have been practicing this at home. How do you replicate the room conditions at home? Do you crank up the heat to get 105F or something like that. Approximate cost?

Classes can be pay as you go, or for specific time intervals. There is no graduate level. If you want to do a private practice you'll evolve into it. Good luck.

I haven't taken any classes for yoga but been thinking about it.

To anyone who looks at those links and thinks, I cannot do that pose....
Think of every class as, 'Yoga Practice, Not Yoga Perfect'. Each class you will have the idea in your head that one day you MAY get to the final pose but physically you may always have some sort of modification to the pose. Your instructors will help you find what that is for your body and help you move into a deeper pose each time.
I love me some Bikram! Yoga in general!
Hope everyone gets a chance to try! Atleast do a 10pack and finish ALL 10 before you decide if you like it or not! You will get used to the heat over time (unless you get heat rash like my boyfriend! )

Not everyone can take the heat. People with certain neurological problems like multiple sclerosis melt down in intense heat.

I did poorly with Bikram yoga. It left me very enervated.