Hot Yoga Classes
Hot Yoga, commonly known as bikram yoga, is a system of yoga that Bikram Choudhury synthesized from traditional yoga techniques and popularized beginning in the early 1970s.
Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class runs approximately 90 minutes, incorporates a series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises, and is ideally practiced in a room heated to 105?F with a humidity of 40%. In the United States, Choudhury has claimed and been aggressive in enforcing broad copyrights in most aspects of the practice, teaching, and business of the system.
While these claims are not definitively resolved (i.e., by any judicial ruling on the merits), Choudury has extracted legal settlements from a number of yoga teachers and studios.
Bikram yoga aims toward general wellness and claims the heated studio facilitates deeper stretching, injury prevention, and stress and tension relief. Bikram yoga is claimed to systematically stimulate and restore health to every muscle, joint, and organ of the body. There are two complementary aspects of the 26 exercises, asanas (postures) and pranayama (breathing exercises), though many other branches of yoga also use these methods. According to Choudhury, many people only use up to 50 percent of their lung capacity; the lungs must be stretched in order to (through practice) withstand holding more oxygen. When one is practicing pranayama s/he will eventually be able to enhance oxygen conversion and absorption, as well as improve blood circulation. (Choudhury, 2007) This is true of any cardiovascular activity.
