Benefits Of Bikram Yoga
Poses
By
Rebecca Prescott
Bikram yoga is a type of
yoga that is performed using a number of specific poses in a
room heated to ninety to one hundred degrees Fahrenheit.
This form of Yoga is named after its founder, Bikram
Choudury, an Indian who spent some time studying with the
brother of Paramahansa Yogananda, named Bishnu Ghosh.
This form of yoga, like
other types, is designed to unify the mind, body and spirit,
as well as to increase levels of flexibility and strength
throughout the body. This is a form of exercise that has
become more and more popular over the years, with many
attracted to the benefits it can bring not only to our
muscles, but the nervous, lymphatic, and endocrine systems.
With Bikram Yoga a series
of twenty six poses is used, and these are performed in a
suitably heated room using the temperatures specified above.
Within this school, each of the twenty six poses is
performed twice, and held for a specified time period.
Amongst the Bikram yoga poses used are standing poses, back
bends, forward bends, and twists.
The reason for the room
being heated is because these levels of heat have been shown
to improve the ability to go safely into the asanas, making
the whole experience more comfortable and manageable. Bikram
yoga poses can be challenging for some people, but the heat
increases flexibility and makes practising these poses and
holding them as required easier. People can reach a deeper
level of physical practice more quickly.
These levels of heat also
increase sweating, and will help you to expel toxins from
the body. They also help reduce the risk of injury during
practice. The actual Bikram yoga poses themselves are
designed to strengthen and stretch both the muscles and the
joints, as well as ligaments. It's a style of yoga that is
really geared towards providing physical health benefits.
Practising these asanas in
the Bikram style can help to increase blood circulation and
reduce stress levels, as well as develop muscle tone.
Because the standing poses flow together, Bikram
practitioners get something of a cardiovascular workout as
well, which can help with weight loss.
According to reports, this
type of yoga can benefit all sorts of people, including
those with illnesses and diseases such as thyroid problems,
arthritis, and diabetes. They may even find that regular
sessions of Bikram yoga help ease their symptoms.
When Choudury was
developing his style of yoga, he actually worked with
scientists at Tokyo University to establish how different
asanas stimulate the glands in the body. They also examined
the effect of one pose moving into the next, which is why
the order of the poses is considered important in this yoga.
Bikram yoga has also been adapted to a practice suitable for
pregnant women.
Overall, this is a
physically active style of yoga that can be challenging, yet
is suitable for people from beginner to experienced. The
only caveat is whether you can stand the heat!
About the
author:
Learn more about
Bikram yoga and
weight loss here. Rebecca writes on the
types of yoga
here.
For more yoga
articles, click here -
Yoga Articles
I wish you all the best on your yoga adventure!
To your health,
Thomas T :)
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