Bikram Yoga
Yoga has been practiced in India through the earliest of times. It was basically the creation of the Sadhus or the sages who had developed and invented various yogic poses and postures during their long periods of meditations to keep and preserve their body strengths. These earliest yogic postures generally demanded a sitting position and were known as Raja yoga. But in the 15th century, Yogi Swatmarama introduced a new form of yoga known as Hatha Yoga which involved full body postures. This new form of yoga demanded a more complete body involvement resulting in a better physique.
With the advent of globalization yoga classes spread its wings in the West too. And as its various benefits became known to the residents of these countries, yoga classes became quite popular there. Now several academic institutions in these modern countries are also known to offer yoga as one of their subjects. Among these Bikram Yoga started by Bikram Choudhury is quite sought after by many of the students. According to Bikram Choudhury, the Bikram Yoga is the only real form of Hatha Yoga practiced by the West. Bikram Yoga is more popularly known as Hot Yoga as it involves practicing yogic postures in hot and humid conditions. Typically the temperature of the yoga class where this Bikram Yoga is being practiced is maintained anywhere between ninety to hundred degrees Fahrenheit. And the humidity level is kept at approximately fifty percent.
There is no restriction on the age group or sex of the person desiring to learn Bikram Yoga. Anyone at any stage of the age or having any body condition can undertake to learn Bikram Yoga. In fact even people suffering from chronic diseases like blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid problems or arthritis can very well learn this yoga in the yoga classes after having consulted with their yoga teacher and in the process get partial or complete cure for their ailments.
This ninety minute session in a yoga class involves the sequence of about twenty six yoga poses. Each yoga pose is repeated twice and held for some duration during one session of the yoga class. This yoga starts with standing poses. After this come the backward bends and forward bends. The twists follow then. And lastly Bikram Yoga culminates with the Kapalbhati breaths.
As Bikram Yoga involves lots of stretches it makes some people apprehensive in learning them. They think that their body is not flexible enough to deal with such type of physical exercises. But, with the guidance of a good yoga teacher anyone can master this yoga in a short span of time. The yoga classes aim at helping each student in mastering their techniques. Bikram Yoga is not concerned with the flexibility of your body. It basically helps in strengthening your spine and thereby your body so that you gain a complete harmony between mind, body and soul. And in a good yoga class you will be able to learn how to gain that harmony without pushing your body too far. So if you want a healthy body then Bikram Yoga is just the thing for you.
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