Bikram Yoga - A Low Impact Exercise Idea

Image courtesy of prevention.com

Bikram yoga is - as far as I am concerned - the most challenging form of yoga, and in turn provides the highest level of benefits for your body. A standard 90 minute session involves 26 poses bookended by two breathing exercises, all in a room heated to at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit with a humidity of approximately 40%.

The heat and humidity increase the body's need for oxygen, causing the lungs to expand to up to 50% of their total capacity. The cardiovascular system needs to work at a higher level of performance. More blood needs to be pumped to the muscles and other organs in the body during a session of Bikram Yoga than many other cardio activities, thus making Bikram a more strenuous exercise than most.

The upside is that the 26 poses - each of which is held on both sides of the body, in a series of two sets - are generally very low impact and simple when compared to some of the poses in Vinyasa and other forms of yoga. A beautiful principe is practiced by all practitioners of Bikram - you receive 100% of the benefits from every pose if you do at least 1% of it 100% right. Thus, the focus is on learning each pose from the ground up and building your practice and improving knowing that you receive 100% of the benefits from the practice as long as you follow the instructions to the extent of your body's ability. Simply standing or lying in shavasana in the heated room will improve your body.

Bikram yoga offers an incredible breadth of benefits ranging from improving your skeletal and muscular system to improving overall health and balance and decreasing the chance of many disorders and ailments:

Practicing yoga in a heated room loosens your muscles and lessens the chance of injury. The circulatory system will benefit from Bikram Yoga as well - improved blood flow will increase the amount of oxygen that passes through your system. Exercising in a heated room promotes healthy sweating which converts toxins in your body into soluble products, which leave the body in the process of sweating.

Working through the 26 poses greatly improves the skeletal and muscular system - promoting healthy joints and building strong, lean muscles. The series of stretching and balancing poses makes use of all of the major muscles in your body, and in turn, tones all of them improving strength and balance.

The heat increases your metabolism and heart rate, promoting weight loss. During the course of a 90 minute course, the 170 pound Jane can burn up to 1150 calories. Imagine the effect this kind of exercise can have on your body when practiced at least 4 times per week.

I can personally recommend Bikram Yoga as an exercise because it is the first program I turned to when I decided that dieting alone was not enough. Although, initially, acclimating to the extreme heat proved to be a challenge, the relative ease of the poses and the option to only push yourself as much as you can in each pose became a saving grace for my under-exercised limbs. Practicing yoga has proved to give incredible benefits to my body and mind - yoga is, after all, no just an exercise program but a way of life.

Give it a solid try and tell me what you think.

Here's to our health!