Bikram yoga: heating up a cold winter: explore the origins of this hot trend with Eric Benvenue-Jennings.

One of the latest trends in yoga is "hot yoga." The original hot yoga practice, known as Bikram Method Yoga or simply, Bikram Yoga, was created by Bikram Choudhury under the tutelage of Bishnu Ghosh, founder (with his brother, Paramahansa Yogananda) of Ghosh's College of Physical Education in Calcutta. Bikram began studying with Ghosh at age five and won several national yoga competitions in his early childhood. At age twenty., an accident crushed Bikram's knee. The medical prognosis was that he would never walk again. Working with Bishnu Ghosh, Bikram was totally recovered in six months. He became one of Ghosh's chosen proteges and has since honored his guru by founding the Yoga College of India.

While doing research at Tokyo University. Hospital, Bikram discovered healing happens much more readily when all body systems are exercised and strengthened. Working with physicians and monitoring devices, Bikram devised a twenty-six posture series to be practiced every day" as a method to treat the whole body. Combining Eastern and Western disciplines, the series was designed to methodically warm and stretch the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in a specific order, as well as to stimulate all the organs, glands and nerves. Each posture prepares the body for the posture that follows, resulting in a holistic approach to yoga asanas whose cumulative effect far exceeds that of the individual postures if practiced alone or in a random or haphazard order. The Bikram Method was designed for all ages and levels of fitness.

This yoga works by something called the tourniquet effect: stretching, balancing, and creating pressure all at the same time to restrict blood flow to certain parts of the body. When released, a flood gate effect is created, causing blood to rush through the veins and arteries, flushing them out and delivering freshly oxygenated blood to the region. Practitioners report achieving proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being with regular practice of the Bikram series.

The series begins with a breathing exercise, Pranayama Breathing, followed by preparatory postures: Half Moon Pose (combined with Hands to Feet Pose), Awkward Pose, and then Eagle. These first four asanas consume almost a third of the ninety minutes required to do the complete series. The standing postures continue for thirty more minutes during which time the heart rate is intentionally brought up and down, as in the rigorous trio of Standing Head to Knee, Standing Bow Pulling, and Balancing Stick followed by a long, almost leisurely, Standing Separate Leg Stretching pose. When the standing postures are completed, the "warm-up" is over and floor postures begin. The physical exertion and sometimes intense stretching of the standing postures has prepared the body to be able to get maximum benefit from the floor series, most of which focus on the spine.

The class "peaks" with two postures that arrive nearly at the end, both of which work the spine in its totality but in opposite directions. From the deep back-bend of Camel, the class moves into the extreme forward curve of the spine during Rabbit. After Rabbit, ending with another breathing exercise: Kapalbhati in Vajrasana, a form of breathing in which one forcefully pulls the stomach in to expel as much air as possible from the lungs. A final Savasana, with eyes closed under dimmed lighting, provides several minutes total relaxation before returning to "the daily life."

The most significant and unique aspect of a Bikram Yoga class isn't found in postures, which are standard hatha yoga postures as first described by Pantajali two-thousand years ago. Nor is it in the fact that the room is heated. The heat is important and provides many benefits: allowing a deeper stretch with less risk of injury, preventing the body from overheating (through evaporation of the sweat) and increasing the heart rate for a better cardiovascular workout. But Bikram Yoga isn't just hot yoga. It is a scientifically crafted sequence of postures coupled with an exacting, step-by-step instruction method that guides students into and out of postures in a careful and deliberate manner. A certified Bikram Method instructor, following Bikram's prescribed method, breaks down each of the twenty-six postures into minute and easily achieved stages, which can help even the most inexperienced and inflexible beginner to learn how to assume a posture properly. At the same time, the instructions, referred to as "the Bikram dialogue," offer exacting refinements and provide a deeper level of understanding of the postures for more advanced practitioners. Bikram Yoga is yoga for all ages, all levels of abilities and all body types. And it works.

TRY THIS! Do Rabbit Pose (Sasangasana), the Bikram Way

Sit Japanese-style, knees and feet together, shins on the floor, buttocks resting on your heels. Start with a straight spine, hands hanging loose behind your hips.

Inhale, tuck your chin in towards your chest and as you exhale, slowly curl your body forward bringing your forehead to the front of your knees. At this point, the top of your head should lightly touch the floor. If your forehead doesn't reach the knees, try to walk your knees forward slowly to meet it. Grip your heels, thumbs on the outside of the ankle, wrapping four fingers around the bottom of each heel. Pull against your heels and lift your hips up and towards the front, making your spine as round as you can, like a wheel. Maintaining a firm grip, try to straighten your arms and get the thighs perpendicular to the floor. The tops of the feet should stay on the floor.

Be careful not to put too much weight on your head against the floor--no more than 20-25%. Most of your weight should be evenly distributed along the shins from the knees to the feet.

While in the posture, your throat should feel a little choked but it's important to keep breathing, slow and steady through the nose. For maximum flexibility of the spine, pull your stomach in and try to curve the lower spine as much as possible. Hold for twenty seconds.

To come out of the posture, while keeping the grip, relax your hips back down onto your heels and slowly uncurl the spine until your back is straight again, bringing the chin off the chest last. Release your hands from your feel turn around and lie down in savasana (lie flat on your back in a resting position).

Eric Benvenue-Jennings is a certified Bikram Method Instructor and owner of Bikram's Yoga College of India in Decatur, Georgia. For more information about Bikram Yoga, visit www.bikramyogadecatur.com.