Conscious Choice: Bikram: A Hot Yoga For Beginners

December 2002 | Body & Mind Health

Bikram: A Hot Yoga For Beginners

by Darlene Paris

I invited my cousin Corey, who had never experienced yoga, to come along with me to my first Bikram yoga class last month. I didn’t tell him much about this style of Hatha yoga, except that he needed to wear swim trunks for the session instead of the cotton shirt and shorts he’s accustomed to wearing at the gym.

To allay his fears that he would be the only person dressed in Speedo swim wear in November, I packed my Lycra swimsuit, a beach towel and a quart of bottled water. This was everything that Beth Kiely, co-director of Om on the Range Yoga Studio, advises first-time students they need when they visit her Bikram yoga studio at 759 N. Ravenswood, Suite 123, in Chicago.

"We tell people to put on the kind of clothing they’d wear when they go running in the month of July," says Beth, a longtime Ashtanga yoga practitioner, who took her first Bikram yoga class last year at a retreat in Costa Rica with her husband, Terry Kiely.

The couple enjoyed this method of yoga so much that they decided to travel to Los Angeles to study with Bikram Choudhury himself, the originator of Bikram yoga. Today, both Beth and Terry are certified beginning Bikram yoga teachers.

"Our students typically show up for class wearing running shorts, biker shorts, or something with a little bit of Spandex in it." Beth says. "When you do Bikram yoga, less clothing is best."

Why the scanty clothing? "It’s all about the heat," says Mike Lewis, co-director of Bikram Yoga College of India-Chicago, located at 1344 N. Milwaukee Avenue, in the city’s Bucktown neighborhood. Bikram yoga, also known as "hot yoga," is performed in a room with the heat cranked up anywhere between 105 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. "It’s a winter oasis," says Mike, who opened his studio with his buddy John Marcoux last year after they both quit their jobs in Texas. Mike said goodbye to his job as a corporate banker and John left his job as a lawyer. They attended a Bikram teacher’s training program and then settled in Chicago to open one of the first Bikram yoga studios in the city.

The Bad Boy of Yoga

Bikram Choudhury was dubbed the "Bad Boy of Yoga" in one international yoga magazine because of the boldness he displays as he promotes this radically different style of yoga across the country. Bikram insists that yoga be practiced in a heated environment because it warms the body and makes it more supple. Another benefit derived from doing asanas in a hot room is that you’ll sweat — a sure sign that your body is ridding itself of toxins.

In his book, Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class, Bikram says that the heated room helps you to perform the two breathing exercises and 26 postures that make up his yoga series without doing damage to your body. The 26 poses include standing postures such as the eagle pose and a floor series which includes the cobra pose. Each asana is held for 10 seconds to a minute and are performed twice. "The idea behind doing the postures two times is that during the second time you really can relax into the pose and go a little bit deeper," Mike Lewis explains.

During my first class, I found myself feeling a little weak as I attempted to do some of the poses. To achieve some semblance of balance, I began doing the deep breathing exercise, Pranayama, we learned at the beginning of class, and my body gradually began to relax.

At some Bikram yoga studios, you’re allowed to leave the room or take a swig of water if you feel exhausted. The teachers at Om on the Range, however, encourage their students to lie on their mat and connect with their breath until the feeling of discomfort passes. "We always remind students when they do Bikram yoga that their bodies are getting used to a new style of yoga, so they may feel hot and tired their very first time," Beth of Om on the Range explains.

Bikram says that his yoga series is safe as long as you perform the postures in the proper sequence. He advises first-time students to do yoga every day for two months to experience better health, more energy, and a renewed vitality.

"This style of yoga is popular because it’s very physical," says Beth. "People can’t believe that their cardiovascular rate can get stronger just by doing yoga."

After practicing more traditional styles of yoga for the past year, I didn’t know how I would like Bikram yoga, but I discovered after class that there was something about this method that makes it addictive. The heated room and invigorating yoga postures make you feel as if you’ve just gotten a good workout at the gym.

Even Corey, who playfully called Bikram yoga, "become yogurt," was excited about the poses he learned. Although he felt a little light-headed after class, the feeling soon dissipated once he sat down and drank some water. I, on the other hand, experienced a surge of energy so strong that I was ready to do another series of asanas for a half hour.

Like so many others who try this form of yoga for the first time, we decided to go back to our newfound winter oasis the next day for another hot and healthy 90-minute Bikram yoga session.

Darlene E. Paris is a freelance writer, teacher, Reiki Master, and the author of Healthy and Natural Living in Chicago: The Best Alternative Resources in the City and Suburbs (Chicago Review Press, 1998).

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