Hot yoga

Hot yoga/Bikram yoga is one of the many styles of yoga that have cropped up in the recent times and gained popularity especially outside India. It was started/innovated in Los Angeles by Bikram Chaudhury in the 1970's.
It is a series of 26 poses done in a heated room with a temperature about 110 degrees F. It is a 90 minute session with designated water breaks. It promotes profuse sweating to remove toxins from the body. It is also designed to make the body warm and flexible.

I recently signed up for 20-day introductory session but managed to attend about 8 days. The first day was a total burn-out! I had to rest one out of every 10 minutes in the last half-hour. But the second day was much better. It definitely gives the feeling of an intense workout, partly because of the heat that tires you easily. I liked the postures and but somehow did not really connect with heat part. I felt it was too exhausting and found myself dreading the class even a couple of hours before. I feel more comfortable with my usual strength training at the gym. But it does work for some people like my friend who attended the classes with me. She likes it and knows a couple of people who have actually lost weight with hot yoga. For those who would like to give it a try, here is the link to more information:

http://www.bikramyoga.com/