The lifestyle of eating right, going green and now bending backward in a 105 degree room is becoming the talk of the town. Bikram, also known as "Fire Yoga," is the new and upcoming craze for getting your body in shape and releasing stress.
"Bikram yoga is like a package deal. Once you start your practice, you'll slowly start to see what it takes to maintain your mind and body," said John Reidy, a bikram instructor at Yoga 101 studio in Cotati. "You'll be more aware of what you're eating and how you approach everyday life."
This "Fire Yoga" first originated in India by Bikram Choudhury. He had suffered from a serious knee injury, which led him to six months of yoga therapy. Choudhury's exercise of stretching and loosening his muscles created what is known today as Bikram Yoga. Since then, his practice of yoga has been spread across the world.
The traditional practice of Bikram Yoga is a 90-minute session of 26 poses that aim to work every part of the body. Each pose is repeated twice in order to get the full effect of maneuvering the body. In addition, all the poses are performed in front of a mirror so that one can have complete body awareness and an easy way to self-correct.
The session begins a "warming" of the body with breathing exercises. The first 13 poses are standing up in order to energize the body. Continued with steady breathing, the standing series challenges balance and flexibility with leg and arm positions. Followed by the standing up portion are 13 poses on the floor. These poses focus more on back strengthening as well as flexibility.
The session ends with a breathing exercise that exerts energy from the body. The difference between the original form of yoga and Bikram Yoga is the increase of room temperature. Bikram yoga is practiced in room about 105-109 F in order to achieve the full effect of warming the body.
According to Yoga 101's philosophy, the heat correlates with your own temperature. This heat combination is believed to work the muscles harder in a shorter amount of time, with faster results, while also increasing flexibility to avoid injuries.
"Traditional yoga isn't as therapeutic. The increased temperature of 105 F-110 F allows the body to loosen up. It also speeds up the process of getting the body a better workout," explained Reidy.
Along with relaxing the muscles, Bikram Yoga is expected to improve the body physically with weight loss, injury healing, stabilizing the immune system and building stamina. These benefits arrive from the heated temperature and sequence of poses.
In addition, Bikram yoga is recognized as a mental empowering exercise. According to Reidy, stress reduction results from the physical concentration one practices during yoga. Yoga challenges the mind to think outside personal issues or concerns by molding the body to specific poses in an effort to improve mental wellness.
The results of Bikram yoga derive from regularly attending classes. These believed benefits have given Bikram yoga a popular reputation, and the wide range of skill level allows various age groups to practice, from nine to 79-year-olds.
As the founder of Bikram said, "Never too old, never too late, never too sick to do yoga and start from scratch again."
source: media.www.sonomastatestar.com
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