Sweat It Out!
105 degrees. 40% humidity. 26 postures. 90 minutes. one ridiculously tough workout.
I find that people have either a LOVE or HATE reaction towards Bikram Yoga. Personally, I can’t imagine life without yoga…and yoga without Bikram. New York offers several studios but my favorite is Bikram Yoga NYC (locations UES, UWS, Midtown and Flatiron). Aside from having great instructors, the studios are extremely clean and well maintained (VERY important when you’re pouring sweat in a cramped room with sometimes as many as 50 other students). For the LOVERS of Bikram, Bikram Yoga NYC encourages students to participate in the ’30 Day Challenge’ which requires 30 consecutive days of practice.
Followers of this practice of yoga believe that the heat and humidity act to detox the body, thin the blood to clear the circulatory system and increase heart rate. The 26 postures force your body to simultaneous stretch, balance and create pressure…and then quickly release to allow the blood rush through veins and arteries. If this all sounds a little too bloody for you, don’t worry, these are the positive effects that you don’t even realize during the 90 minutes – you’re mostly focused on how to not slip off your mat or how phenominal you need to make your abs in time to come to the next Bikram class sans shirt like the real yogis (I’m still working on this one).
