Thoughts on Bikram?

Wellllll, once again I can lay claim to having tried Bikram myself - rather excitingly in a yoga studio in San Francisco, close to where I believe it was originally devised. My thoughts? Hot, sweaty and extremely hard work. In fact, I have to confess I didn't actually finish the class (how embarrassing) but spent the last 10 minutes collapsed outside, heart pumping madly, downing bucketloads of water. Not my idea of fun. That said, my body felt nice and supple until it all got too much. Overall, though, the whole thing had too strong a whiff of 'machismo' to me - more like working out at the gym. The exercises were performed in rather irritating military-style drills and there was no emphasis on the more meditative side or, from what I remember, breathing (although I may be wrong there).

Anyway, hasn't old Bikram himself been the subject of much controversy, with loads of people lining up claiming to have injured themselves through over-stretching (I think the whole of point of the 'hot room' is that, in theory, you can stretch yourself further because your muscles are more relaxed so people are more likely to push themselves beyond their natural limits)? And didn't he also (allegedly) issue some legal clause preventing people from 'nicking' his Bikram approach who weren't registered teachers - hardly in tune with the hippy-happy non-competitive yoga world?

Ah, interesting. Yep, the whole thing doesn't much appeal to me, either, though I should go along to try it out before commenting, really. Apparently men are particularly keen on bikram - and I think that probably has something to do with its full-on approach, which could be seen as a gym subsitute.

Yes you're right, bikram himself has courted a fair amount of controversy, although not that recently, if I'm right. I agree that, on the surface, the approach seems along way from the (perceived) yoga ideal, where the ego is (allegedly) left at the back door.

Hmmmmm. Interesting, though, that it's apparently the fastest-growing school of yoga in the UK now....

Yes, that is interesting (if it's true and not some PR hyperbole). I'm sure it's addictive to some people but it's not 'Proper Yoga' to me. Besides, I'm not sure how good it is for you. Eg. You're basically exercising (it didn't really feel like doing asanas to me) in sauna-like temperatures, but one of the crucial things about hydrotherapy is that the real pay-off comes when you follow the hot immersion with an extremely cold immersion. From what I understand, if you just have hot, then, to put it crudely, blood circulation become clogged - which isn't particularly great. It's the contrast between hot and cold that really gets the circulation flowing. How many people are following Bikram yoga with a dip in a plunge pool or an ICE-cold shower (and it would have to be freezing)? Not many I suspect?

Anyway, sorry! Being a bit of a doubting Minnie again!

If Yoga can be compared to a diamond - pure and timeless, then Bikram is cut glass - it may sparkle a little but it's relatively worthless. Yoga in it's pure form has been around since long long before human memory. Time will show Bikram to be little more than a fad.

I like that comprison! You could well be right, Ben - guess time will tell.... it's certainly got a certain amont of cache these days. But trends do come and go...

Lucia

This guy sums up what i think of Bikram, have a look :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXgdSOxaCGI&search=yoga

I have never done bikram before but am planning to very soon. I must admit that I am a little nervous - perform any sort of strenuous activity in such high temperatures cannot be easy.

I feel that there is a lot of snobbery when it comes to bikram. People describe it as not being "pure yoga" - and yet those same people have never tried it. It does, as far as I am aware, draw upon hatha asana principles. So what is "pure yoga" ?

Surely anything that raises awarness of yoga has got to be a good thing, and maybe people should reserve judgement until they have tried it at least once.

Jeff

P.S Once I have tried it, I will be sure to comeback and let you folks know what I think