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Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class is a demanding series of 26 postures (asanas) and two breathing exercises (pranayamas) practiced in a heated room, which is suitable for all ages and levels of ability. Each posture stretches and strengthens specific muscles, ligaments, and joints needed for the next posture.
The Bikram method also stimulates the organs, glands and nerves, moving fresh oxygenated blood to 100% of the body, restoring all systems to a healthy working order. Bikram scientifically designed this vigorous 90-minute program to deliver total health through the balancing and strengthening of every system in the body in order to prevent illness, injury and limit the effects of aging.
In addition, the series of postures combines skills of concentration, patience, determination and self-control, which lead to increased mental clarity and reduction of stress.
"Yoga is the only exercise in the world you can do at any age. There is always some posture that will improve your health, mind and soul." |
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For more information about Bikram Choudhury, the founder of Bikram Yoga, and his international association of affiliated schools, please visit his website at bikramyoga.com. |
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Ask yourself the following questions: |
| • | Do I need to lose weight? |
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| • | Am I stressed out? |
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| • | Do I get tension headaches? |
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| • | Is my cholesterol level too high? |
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| • | Do I have an injury that just doesn't seem to heal? |
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| • | When I play weekend sports, am I in pain at the end of the day? |
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| • | Do I have trouble sleeping? |
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| • | Has my Doctor told me I need to get some form of exercise? |
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| • | Do I have back pain? |
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| • | Would I like to improve my golf game? |
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| • | Do I lack energy? |
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| • | Do I tire easily? |
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| • | Would I like to be able to play with my kids/grandkids more? |
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| • | Do I travel frequently? |
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| • | Do I sit at a computer for long periods of time? |
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| • | Do I have carpal tunnel syndrome? |
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| • | Do I feel tension and stress in my back, shoulders or neck? |
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If you answered "YES" to any of the above, then Bikram Yoga is for you. |
What is the point of Bikram Yoga? |
When most people think of yoga, images of chanting and people maneuvering into seemingly impossible positions come to mind. Yoga is not just for the fantastically flexible. If you are not flexible, if you cannot touch your toes, or perhaps cannot even see your toes, you are a perfect candidate for the benefits of yoga. This class is not about competing with your neighbor.
Yoga is about stretching your body and spine in all directions. You build strength, balance and flexibility not only in your body, but in your mind and life as well. Even flexible people have bad days and have challenges of their own.
The criteria for getting benefit from Bikram Yoga:
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| • | you try the postures the right way |
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| • | you go to your personal "edge" |
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| • | you have a good sense of humor |
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What do I need to do to get benefit from Bikram Yoga? |
| • | Try 100% the right way 100% of the time |
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| • | Find your personal edge |
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| • | Enjoy yourself |
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How does Bikram Yoga work?
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By the tourniquet effect: stretching, balancing (using gravity), and creating pressure all at the same time. The blood supply in the arteries and veins is cut off, creating pressure. When released, blood rushes through the veins and arteries, flushing them out.
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Is Bikram Yoga a cardiovascular workout and can I lose weight? |
No matter what your fitness level, you will find Bikram Yoga very challenging. Each posture combines flexibility, strength and balance to work your whole body from your bones to your skin. With persistence, patience, and dedication, you can lose inches, and develop muscle tone and strength that might never come from other forms of exercise.
Most people do not experience dramatic weight loss according to a scale because as you are losing fat, you are building muscle mass. What you will see is a general slimming all over: your clothes fit better, your posture is better, your skin will glow.
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How often should I attend class? |
Any yoga is good yoga, but the more frequently you attend class the better. If you come once or twice a week and feel that each class is an insurmountable challenge, find a way to attend class more often. Each class builds on the next, the more classes you can take closer together, the better you will feel. By coming one to two times a week, you will certainly experience the benefits of the yoga, but you will not see the results as quickly.
For good results, we encourage a regular practice of 3 times per week minimum; for life-changing results, 4 or more times per week. |
Do you have a separate class for beginners? |
No. Classes are open to all levels, whether you are a beginner or an advanced student. Advanced students can be a helpful resource as you get started with Bikram Yoga—use them as examples to watch.
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What if I'm not flexible? |
Then this is the right place for you! The heat and sequence of postures is intended to help increase flexibility safely. This class is not about your level of flexibility or fitness. It is about trying the right way and finding and going beyond your personal edge. Your flexibility will improve with time and you will be rewarding your body with countless other benefits along the way. |
What are some of the benefits? |
| • | Reduces the effects of stress |
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| • | Increases energy |
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| • | Increases blood circulation, supplying oxygen and nutrients to parts of the body that have been blocked or stagnant |
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| • | Lubricates joints and increases muscle strength around joints to support the joints under pressure |
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| • | Improves the spine's flexibility and health |
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| • | Strengthens bones |
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| • | Improves strength, tone and flexibility of muscles, which reduces the risk of injury or re-injury |
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| • | Regulates cholesterol in the blood |
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| • | Eliminates toxins |
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| • | Flushes the lymphatic system |
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| • | Strengthens the immune system |
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| • | Balances the endocrine glands |
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| • | Expands lung capacity and strengthens the heart |
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| • | Can reduce the symptoms of many chronic diseases (e.g. arthritis and thyroid disorders) |
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Bikram Yoga is practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat combined with the sequence of the postures is what makes Bikram Yoga so special. The room is heated intentionally to warm muscles, which allows you to work deeper in a shorter amount of time, seeing results faster. Heat takes the trauma out of stretching, heals and helps prevent injuries.
Also, your skin is the largest elimination organ in your body. Yoga is not just about working muscles. You are massaging deep tissues, glands, organs as well. As you work deep within your body, you may start to release "poisons" or "toxins" that have been stored there a long time. Sweating helps flush toxins from your body, giving you a wonderful glow from head to toe.
The heat also elevates the heart rate and produces excellent cardiovascular benefits, assists in circulation, and provides optimum conditions to improve the function of your body's internal systems. When the body is between three and five degrees above normal temperature, T-cell output from the thymus gland is multiplied 20-fold (T-cells fight infections, which in turn keep the immune system functioning properly). |
What if I don't like the heat? |
| • | Don't be discouraged if the heat creates discomfort for you. The more classes you take, the more accustomed your body and mind will become to doing a 90-minute yoga class in 105+ degrees. Focus on the intense feeling of purification and energy your body experiences after class; and within a short period of time your body will adapt to the high temperature. |
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Do I need to drink water before class? |
Drink plenty of water. You can lose up to 3-5 pounds of water weight during a class. This is NOT good weight to lose. It is easy to get dehydrated, so make sure you are drinking plenty of water after class and the entire day before you come to class. You are less likely to feel lightheaded or dizzy during class if you've had enough to drink in the hours preceding class.
How much is enough? See our hydration guidelines.
The most typical excuse for not drinking water is the increased visits to the restroom. Your body will adjust to the increased water intake. You may also find benefits of decreased body odor, smoother skin, and shinier hair. |
What if I feel sore after class? |
Didn't know you had a muscle there? Congratulations, you have utilized 100% of your body. You are on the way to regaining your birthright: using your body in the full range of motion that it was designed for. Muscle soreness is a buildup of lactic acid. What's the best way to get rid of the lactic acid? Stretching. It may seem impossible to imagine that coming back for more will help, but it is THE BEST way to relieve the soreness. If you wait too long to come back, then you will be starting all over again. |
How much will I progress? |
How quickly you progress will depend entirely on you — upon your natural ability to a small extent, but mostly upon the honest time and effort you give to Yoga. It will have little to do with how "perfectly" you can do the poses (few of us ever do the poses "perfectly"). Instead, it will have to do with how well you understand what you are trying to accomplish in each pose, how honestly you try to accomplish your goal, and how supple your muscles and joints have become in comparison to the point at which you began. In Yoga there is no standard of comparison except yourself. Perfect is the best you can do that day.
Bikram's method teaches you not only the ideal pose — how you will eventually be able to do it — but also the reality — telling you what problems you will have as you try to do the pose, what clues will help you make rapid progress, and where you might be tempted to "cheat," thus depriving yourself of the benefit of doing the pose properly. |
I have bad knees, will I be able to do Bikram Yoga? |
| • | Yes, in fact Bikram Yoga can actually help your knees. If you have arthritis or an injury in your knees, movement is important to increase circulation. By increasing circulation and flexibility through careful movement, the knees can begin to heal. |
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| • | Whether the knees are arthritic or injured, Bikram Yoga will definitely help. Bikram actually healed his knee, which was crushed by a 300-pound weight, with his guru's help doing yoga. You must move the knees to get circulation to them, and Bikram Yoga helps you do both. |
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| • | So how should you proceed? Make sure to listen carefully to the alignment instructions in each posture. When you are told to keep your feet parallel in standing postures, please do so. A half inch in either direction away from parallel has its effects all the way up the knees and into the hips. |
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| • | In standing balancing postures, it is also important to keep the standing foot straight and the standing knee pointing straight ahead. If your knee bows back (hyperextension) you should bring the weight forwards towards the toes so as to engage the quadriceps muscle ("lock the knee") and lift the kneecap upwards. This action brings the leg into one line and brings true strength to the knees. |
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| • | When you are bending your knees in any of the standing postures, keep the knees pointed over the toes. This will ensure that the knees and hips are strengthened evenly inside and out. |
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| • | In triangle, when you are told to push your hips forward as you bend your front knee, this will keep your hip in line with your knee in line with your foot. This is also good for even strengthening of hip and knee joints. |
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| • | In some of the standing postures, it might be very difficult to bend your knee to a 90- degree angle. So do the best you can without creating pain. Better to keep proper alignment bending 1% than to go 100% in poor alignment. |
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| • | In the floor poses, notably fixed firm, half tortoise and perhaps rabbit, it might be difficult for you to bend your knees enough that the hips sit on the heels. To test your knee flexibility, keep lots of weight in your hands and bend the knees gradually to the point (but not past) of pain. You must be able to relax and breathe in the posture, holding it steady, for anything to happen. As the pain decreases and you start feeling more comfortable, you can gradually take the weight out of your hands and allow more pressure on the knees. Eventually you'll be able to go all the way into the posture, and you won't even remember the time when you couldn't even sit down! |
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| • | You'll find that little by little your knee pain goes away and soon you'll realize that you can walk, climb up and go down stairs, even run a little without pain! |
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Why is it important to learn from a Bikram Certified Instructor? |
It takes more than a hot room and a list of postures to make your Bikram Yoga practice a safe, rewarding experience. Bikram Yoga is a specialized form of yoga, requiring appropriate training and knowledge to teach it effectively. All of Bikram Yoga Dallas' instructors are Bikram Certified Instructors.
Bikram Choudhury, the creator of Bikram Yoga, personally trains and certifies his instructors to ensure that his methods and philosophy are preserved and properly taught. To be certified as a Bikram Yoga instructor, an instructor must move to Los Angeles, CA to complete an intensive nine-week training requiring over 500 hours of study. Bikram Yoga Dallas is guided only by Certified Instructors to provide our students with the best possible instruction in the Bikram Method. Our Certified Instructors have a continuing connection to Bikram Choudhury and his training staff, allowing Bikram Yoga Dallas to draw from all the resources Bikram's training center has to offer. This includes special seminars, posture clinics, guest instructors, and answers to questions which may arise in a particular student's practice.
Anyone can claim they teach "Bikram Yoga," but unless there is a Certified Instructor supervising how and what is taught at that studio, you are not getting true Bikram Yoga. |
Am I too old to do Bikram Yoga? I heard it was very intense. |
Bikram says "never too old, never too sick, never too bad..." People of any age and condition can do this yoga. It reduces the symptoms of many chronic diseases and is a good preventative activity for the whole body. Bikram created this yoga for people in chronic pain to eliminate that pain and reverse the signs of aging. |
Is it normal to feel sick, dizzy, and nauseous in class? |
Yes, these are all normal, especially for the beginner. The most important thing to do is to breathe, pace yourself, do the best you can, and rest when you feel the need. Learn to listen to your own body and take care of yourself in class. Drink lots of water the day before class to make sure you are well hydrated. A headache is a symptom of dehydration. Feeling tired or wiped out after class is a sign that you need to breathe more in class. The worse you feel, the more you need Bikram yoga. |
Is the routine the same every time? |
Yes. Bikram scientifically designed the series so that one posture opens a specific area of the body in preparation for the next posture. The class is always the same, but your mind and body are different every day. By doing the same sequence of postures in each class you are able to mark your improvements and learn more about your body and its overall functioning. Remember, this is a lifetime practice that can always improve, deepen and advance! |
