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Yoga
Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class is a twenty-six asana series designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the order in which they should be stretched.
Bikram Yoga's twenty-six posture exercises systematically move fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as Nature intended. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being will automatically follow.
How quickly you progress will depend entirely on you -- upon your natural ability to a small extent, but mostly upon the 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 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. To be 'Perfect' in Yoga is to do the best you can do.
About Bikram
Yogiraj Bikram Choudhury is the founder of the worldwide Yoga College of India™. Born in Calcutta in 1946, Bikram began Yoga at the age of four with India's most-renowned physical culturist at that time, Bishnu Ghosh, the younger brother of Paramahansa Yogananda (Author of the most popular book on Yoga, The Autobiography of a Yogi, and founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles).
Bikram practiced Yoga at least four to six hours every day at Ghosh's College of Physical Education in Calcutta. At the age of thirteen, he won the National India Yoga Championship. He was undefeated for the following three years and retired as the undisputed All-India National Yoga Champion.
At seventeen, an injury to his knee during a weight-lifting accident brought the prediction from leading European doctors that he would never walk again. Not accepting their pronouncement, he had himself carried back to Bishnu Ghosh's school, for he knew that if anyone could help to heal his knee, it was his teacher. Six months later, his knee had totally recovered. Ghosh was a celebrated physical culturist and the first to scientifically document Yoga's ability to cure chronic physical ailments and heal the body.
Bikram was asked by Ghosh to start several Yoga schools in India. The schools were so successful that at Bishnu's request Bikram traveled to Japan and opened two more. He has since brought his curative methods of Yoga therapy around the world.
FAQs
How do I prepare for class?
Please arrive 20 minutes early before the class begins and bring the following:
Bottle of water(You can purchase one from us)
Towel (You can rent one from us)
Tips:
Practice on an empty stomach; refrain from eating 2-3 hours prior to class.
Hydrate! Drink water 1 hour prior to class beginning.
Wear light workout clothing.
Be prepared to sweat and feel great
What should I know before my first class?
If you are starting yoga for the first time, it is important to know your boundaries. If you were not a runner, yet decided to run a marathon, you would train and build up to it. Look at yoga the same way. While it's important to try and get better, it's equally important to recognize that yoga is a process. You build at the pace that suits you. Don't run the marathon on your first try!
What is the heat for?
Heat therapy is known as a valuable healing tool. Its earliest known use dates from ancient Greek physicians who raised body temperature as an immune defense mechanism against infection. The yoga room is heated intentionally to 100+ degrees (F) to protect the muscles for safe, deep stretches, which allows you to work deeper in a shorter amount of time, seeing results faster. Heat takes the trauma out of stretching, aids in healing, and helps prevent injuries. The heat increases the heart rate for a better cardiovascular workout, helps to improve strength by putting muscle tissue in optimal state, and softens collagen around the joints for more freedom of movement.
Yoga is not just about working muscles. You are massaging deep tissues, glands, and organs. As you work deep within your body, you may start to release "poisons" or "toxins" that have been stored there a long time. Sweating once a day helps flush toxins from your body.
How does yoga work?
Breathing exercises in the beginning of class, coupled with the heat in the room, begin to warm the body from the inside out. The metabolism starts to speed up, preparing all systems to start working. As the lungs fully expand and take in more oxygen, the heart starts to pump oxygen-rich red blood cells.
The 26 postures are sequentially designed to isolate portions of the body one section at a time by closing off circulation to a group of muscles, organs, and glands for a few seconds. Once released from the posture, oxygen-rich blood returns at a high speed to the closed part of the body, sending in nutrients and flushing out waste.
By using this method of stretching and contracting, circulation is improved and we open up blocked areas of the body. By the end of 90 minutes, you achieve a full body workout. Every cell has been revitalized, the spine has been strengthened, and all systems are restored to their intended 100% working order, giving you an energized body and a relaxed mind.
What if I am not flexible?
This is the most common misconception that prevents people from coming to a yoga class. Yoga is not about how flexible you are already, but about strengthening your body and spine in all directions, and gradually improving your flexibility. Through a consistent yoga practice, your flexibility will improve, but it is not necessary to be flexible before coming to class.
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