Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 movements with two breathing exercises. Bikram Chouldhury copyrighted the material in 1979. He placed all the material in book called Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class. He has generated a bunch of controversy in the yoga community by attempting to force compliance with his copyright. In 2005, Bikram and Open Source Yoga Unity reached an out of court agreement. Bikram now offers certification to instructors that wish it. Certified instructors have over 500 hours of instruction in Bikram’s techniques.
In general, the yoga practice is a series of 26 movements and two breathing exercises. Bikram Yoga is to be practice in a room at 105 degrees F with 50% humidity. The classes last at least 90 minutes. The developer of this practice claims the warmth of the room improves the flexibility of the muscles. Therefore the practitioner progresses faster. Because of the heat of the room, Bikram Yoga has become known as hot’ yoga.
Bikram developed the practice at his company in Los Angeles, California. His positions assist in joint mobility and range of motion. The movements squeeze and compress the blood and lymphatic vessels of the body. This creates increased circulation. Bikram yoga is thought to generate a balance in the body due to the increased communication via the blood.
The specialized breathing for use during the positions helps increase your lung capacity. During some positions, you will be expected to perform an 18-20 breath. This is where you fill your lungs, go to the position, and then release only 20 percent of the air in your lungs by breathing out through your nose. You hold your breath for the remainder of the time in the position. The second breathing technique is exhalation breathing. With this technique, you exhale for the entire time you are in the position.
Remember that while you are doing these positions you are in a very hot room. Be aware of your body. If you have existing health conditions, this is one form of exercise that I’d definitely talk to your doctor about. High temperatures and physical exertion could be very harmful to some health conditions.
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