About Our Yoga

Bikram Choudhury was born in Calcutta in 1946. He began yoga at the age of four with his guru, Bishnu Ghosh. Bikram practiced yoga four to six hours a day and at the age of thirteen, he won the National India Yoga contest, being undefeated for three years.

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 returned to Bishnu Ghosh, for he knew that if anyone could help to heal his knee, it was his teacher. Six months later, through practice of the yoga postures, his knee had totally recovered.

Bikram and his teacher were sought after for their knowledge of how the natural medicine of the postures worked on the body and mind. In India and Japan, Bikram would write prescriptions of postures to help people recover from their ailments. He was doing this on an individual basis, but became frustrated with only being able to heal one person at a time. He therefore developed his sequence of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises so that everyone could have a full script every day of the postures that would heal the body and the mind. It is this sequence that he brought to the western world, and it is this sequence that so amazingly changes our body, our mind, our lives.

There are several reasons for the heat. It is there to protect your body, assisting to warm your muscles which allows you to work deeply and safely in the postures. The heat also thins the blood, opening the capillaries and clearing the circulatory system. You will sweat! In doing so, you will start to detoxify the body, flushing the body of toxins through the skin. The heat is also a mental challenge! It will help you strengthen the mind, body and emotions.

The Bikram 90 is the full 90 minute class consisting of 2 sets of the 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. It can sometimes be known as the ‘pure’ Bikram class, as the pure Bikram sequence was designed so that every posture would be done in a first and second set. First set diagnostic – second set therapeutic. All the magic happens in the body in the second set – that’s where all our desired change comes about! Because there are the two sets of every posture, the class therefore takes the full 90 minutes.

The Quick 60 is a 1 hour class and is great for getting a swifter Bikram experience. In the Quick 60 we do the 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises, but we only do 1 set of some postures and 2 sets of others. For new students, the Quick 60 is also a fantastic way to progress your practice from the Beginners Class. The Quick 60 is a fast, fun and intense workout which will leave you abuzz 🙂

The Silent 60 is a deeply beneficial way of experiencing Bikram yoga. It helps us become more attuned to our body in the postures and is a wonderfully meditative experience. Perfect for the summer months when sometimes in all the activity, we just need a place for our mat to be where things are a little quieter 🙂 As the practice is silent, it is suitable for yogis who are comfortable with their understanding of the flow of the Bikram sequence.

Yin Yoga is a practice of deep meditation and letting go. It is a slow paced style of yoga with longer held seated postures designed to release tension deep in the connective tissue, ligaments and joints. Whereas the Bikram sequence could be described as a Yang practice, very movement oriented, the Yin practice is stillness-oriented. Yin aims at cultivating awareness of one’s inner silence, deepening meditation practice, calming and balancing the mind and body. The Yin/Yang philosophy teaches us that everything must be in balance. Thus the practice of Yin beautifully balances the practice of Bikram and the practice of Bikram beautifully balances the practice of Yin.

Bikram yoga is a cardiovascular workout and you can burn over 500 calories per class!  A regular practice will help you to realise optimisation of all your body systems including your digestive system, and will help to regulate your metabolism. Your appetite will normalise, and your body will start to tell you what it needs, such that unhealthy cravings will diminish. Practicing in the heat also assists in effectively burning fat and so together with a healthy food and beverage intake, you can certainly expect to lose weight with Bikram yoga.

No! If you cannot touch your toes or your hamstrings seem to no longer exist, then this yoga is for you! We don’t do yoga because we are flexible, we do yoga to become flexible. Within the heated room you will see and feel incredible results as you begin to mould and reshape your muscles. Each posture prepares you for the next posture and systematically stretches and strengthens your muscles. You’ll be saying “hello” to your hammies again before you know it!

Absolutely! A regular practice calms the mind and emotions and increases mental clarity. The heated room teaches us how to become comfortable with a challenging environment, and this benefit extends to the situations in our lives, making them easier to manage.

Always seek advice from your doctor if you have an injury or illness before beginning your Bikram yoga practice. It is also important to inform your Bikram yoga teacher about ANY existing medical conditions before your class. We can always advise on how to maximise your yoga practice in order to assist with any pre-existing conditions.

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’s yoga helps you do both.

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.

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.

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!

First and foremost, always seek medical advice from your doctor and follow their advice accordingly. It is not recommended that you start Bikram yoga for the first time if you are pregnant. If you have had a regular practice for at least 1 year we advise you to take a break from Bikram yoga during the 1st trimester and we can assist your with Rajashree’s pregnancy yoga postures that can be practiced at home during this time. During the 2nd and 3rd trimester, you are welcome to practice in the heated room again, modifying the postures to those in Rajashree’s pregnancy sequence. We encourage you to also place your mat near the cooler areas of the studio, eg; by the door. If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to speak to a teacher at the front desk.

It is normal to feel a little strange during your first couple of classes. That’s why we have the Intro Special – so you can get a good number of classes in and observe how your body responds to the yoga. If you feel dizzy or nauseous during or after a class, this is a good sign that your body is starting to rid itself of toxins. It could also mean that you are dehydrated so it is very important to rehydrate – that includes water and electrolytes as you need to replace the minerals that you have lost during heavy sweating.  Sensations of feeling dizzy or nauseous do pass with a regular practice as you become more aware of your body and the changes you are making to it.

It is recommended that we drink around 2 litres of water a day to maintain optimum health. On the days you are practicing Bikram yoga – double that! Always hydrate before and after class. If it is your first time, try and begin hydrating yourself a couple of days before you intend to practice. Remember that you lose water through your sweat, so you need to replace the fluids you lose and also hydrate your body after your class. Taking an electrolyte to assist in replacing minerals (sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium) lost through heavy sweating is also recommended for after class. We sell a range of electrolytes at the studio.

Come as often as you can! Quite simply, the more times you practice the better you will feel. We understand your time is precious when juggling work/family/friends and 1 class a week is better than nothing at all! 2-3 times a week will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. If you can practice 4-5 times a week you will start to see amazing benefits to your physical, mental and emotional self.

Wear light clothing that you can move in. You are going to sweat so it is advisable to avoid long trousers and long-sleeved tops. Shorts and a tank top are great. Some men will just wear shorts and many women will wear shorts with a cropped sports top.

Please bring a yoga mat, a large shower-sized towel and a bottle of water. All of these are available at the front desk for a small fee. Please bring an additional towel if you would like to shower at the Studio after your class.