BIKRAM: Never Say Never.

My first Bikram Yoga class resulted into an instant hatefest. Yoga is about being one with your body, honoring your body - knowing when to push deeper and knowing when to back off. Bikram clearly doesn't agree with me. The teacher yelled "PUSH PUSH PUSH PUSH!!!", "Find your comfortable edge, and GO DEEPER!!! DEEPER DEEPER DEEPER!!". She was like a friggin drill sergeant. No thank you. I go to Yoga to find some clarity, cleanse my body and to find some peace. Anyways - I swore off Bikram. Never again. Never ever. Well....never say never, I guess. My Lymes Disease has REALLY been flaring up lately. Usually it affects my overall energy level, as well as my knees and wrists. For those of you unfamiliar with this disease, let me put it this way: I'm a 23 year old who somedays feel like an 80 year old woman with awful arthritis. Running is out of the question {thank god, cause I hate that shit anyways, atleast now I have an excuse}, but even walking for a distance is out of the question most days. Cold and/or damp weather also seem to agitate my lymes. It must be flaring up now, because lately the pain has increased, and it has moved into my knuckles, my elbows, my ankles...and the pain in my knees has been severe. The heat definitely helps my condition, and since regular yoga classes have been irritating to my wrists and knees, I decided that the heated room used for Bikram would help. The room is kept @105 degrees. This heat is sometimes stifling, but today I found it feeling great on my body.

Here's the deal with Bikram:

Bikram Yoga is the 26 postures Sequence selected and developed by Bikram Choudhury from Hatha Yoga.

It has been proved and experienced by millions that these 26 postures systematically work every part of the body, to give all the internal organs, all the veins, all the ligaments, and all the muscles everything they need to maintain optimum health and maximum function. Each component takes care of something different in the body, and yet they all work together synergistically, contributing to the success of every other one, and extending its benefits.

Why 105 degrees?

Yoga changes the construction of the body from the inside out, from bones to skin and from fingertips to toes. So before you change it, you have to heat it up to soften it, because a warm body is a flexible body. Then you can reshape the body any way you want.

Hatha Yoga flushes away the waste products, the toxins of all the glands and organs of your body. It provides a natural irrigation of the body through the circulatory system, with the help of the respiratory system. It brings nourishments to every cell of your body so that each one can perform its function and keep your body healthy. Bikram Yoga also employs heat to further that cleaning process: When you sweat, impurities are flushed out of the body through the skin.

Practicing yoga not only increases our supplies of oxygen, but it also teaches us how to use that oxygen properly – we learn to control the breath through pranayama.

{http://www.bikramyoga.com/BikramYoga/about_bikram_yoga.php}

	Pranayama Series / Standing Deep Breathing Increasing Circulation to the whole body, waking everything up and preparing the muscles for action.
	Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana / Half Moon Pose with Hands-to-Feet Pose Helps lower-back pain, constipation, obesity of the stomach, bronchial distress and scoliotic and frozen shoulders. Works the deltoid, trapezius and pecoralis major muscles, and the hamstrings.
	Utkatasana / Awkward Pose Helps to align the entire skeletal system, opens the pelvic area, relieves joint pain, sciatica and arthritis of the knees. Strengthens and shapes the lower body, improves flexibility in the toes and ankles. Works the quadricepts and deltoids.
	Garurasana / Eagle Pose Improves mobility in the pelvic girdle and all 12 major joints. Increases body alignment and function of the central nervous system. Stimulates sexual energies and energises the body.
	Dandayamana-Janu Shirasana / Standing Head-to-Knee Pose Improves concentration and balances mood swings. Stretches the sciatic nerve. Reduces diabetes. Strengthens the back muscles and nerves. Works the muscular, skeletal, reproductive and digestive systems.
	Dandayamana-Dhanurasana / Standing Bow Pulling Pose Increases circulation to the heart and lungs. Improves elasticity of the spine. Helps lower-back pain. Opens the diaphragm and lungs. Tones the arms and legs. Relieves cramps and gives the body grace.
	Tuladandasana / Balancing Stick Pose Bikram calls this “heart attack prevention”. Increases blood flow over the entire body. Clears the arteries. Strengthens the heart, lungs, kidney and spleen. Stretches the spine. Builds the leg muscles. Good for varicose veins. Clears deposits of fat and burns calories.
	Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Paschimottanasana / Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose Helps constipation, abdominal obesity and hyperacidity. Increases circulation to the brain and adrenal glands. Improves function of the abdominal organs. Helps to relieve depression.
	Trikanasana / Triangle Pose Helps chemical imbalances in the system, colitis, constipation, hip and back pain, spondylitis, general mobility and menstrual disorder. Good for the heart and kidneys. Cuts calories, stabilizes metabolism. Slims the hips, helps to improve cellulite and chronic obesity.
	Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Janushiransana / Standing Separate Leg Head-to-Knee Pose Helps chemical imbalances in the system, colitis, constipation, hip and back pain, spondylitis, general mobility and menstrual disorder. Good for the heart and kidneys. Cuts calories, stabilizes metabolism. Slims the hips, helps to improve cellulite and chronic obesity.
	Tadasana / Tree Pose Improves posture and balance and increases flexibility of the ankles, knees and hip joints. Strengthens the internal obliques to prevent hernias.
	Padangustasana / Toe Stand Pose Creates balance in the body and mind. Strengthens muscles, stomach and weak joints. Helps with arthritis, knee problems and gout pain.
	Savasana / Dead Body Pose Returns blood circulation to normal and teaches complete relaxation.
	Pavanamuktasana / Wind Removing Pose Cures and prevents flatulence. Improves flexibility of the hip joints and firms the abdomen, thighs and hips.
	Sit up Strengthens and tightens the abdomen and increases flexibility of the spine.
	Bhujangasana / Cobra Pose Maintains the body in perfect condition. Increases spinal strength and flexibility. Helps backache, lumbago, rheumatism and arthritis. Strengthens deltoids, trapeziums and triceps.
	Salabhasana / Locust Pose Maintains the body in perfect condition. Increases spinal strength and flexibility. Helps backache, gout, slipped disc, sciatica, lumbago, rheumatism and arthritis. Firms buttocks and hips. Helps tennis elbow.
	Poorna-Salabhasana / Full Locust Pose Has the same therapeutic value as the Cobra pose and the same upper-body benefits as Standing Bow Pulling. Also firms abdominal muscles, upper arms, hips and thighs.
	Dhanurasana / Bow Pose Maintains the body in perfect condition. Increases spinal strength and flexibility. Helps straighten rounded spines. Helps intestines, liver, kidneys, and spleen. Relieves backache.
	Supta Vajrasana / Fixed Firm Pose Strengthens and improves flexibility of the lower spine, knees and ankle joints. Helps to cure sciatica, gout, varicose veins and rheumatism in the legs. Helps to cure and prevent hernias.
	Ardha Kurmasana / Half Tortoise Pose Cures digestion and stretches the lower part of the lungs, increasing blood circulation to the brain. Firms the abdomen and thighs. Increases the flexibility of the hip joints, scapula, deltoids, triceps and latissimus dorsi muscles.
	Ustranasana / Camel Posee Strengthens muscles in the back and shoulders. Produces maximum compression of the spine, stimulating the nervous system. Improves flexibility of the neck and spine. Slims the abdomen and waistline. Relieves backache. Helps kypho-scolitic deformities.
	Sasangasana / Rabbit Pose Stretches the spine. Helps maintain mobility and elasticity of the spine and back muscles. Nurtures the nervous system and brain. Helps cure depression, diabetes, colds, sinus problems, chronic tonsillitis, sore throats and strep throat. Good for the thyroid, parathyroid and larynx.
	Janushirasana with Paschimottanasana / Head-to-Knee Pose with Stretching Pose Helps to balance the blood sugar level, especially good for diabetes. Good for the immune system, stimulates the thymus, circulation to the liver, spleen, pancreas, thyroid, thymus and intestines. Relieves chronic diarrhea.
	Ardha-Matsyendrasana / Spine Twisting Pose Increases circulation and nutrition to spinal nerves, veins and tissues. Helps to cure lumbago and rheumatism of the spine, improves digestion, removes flatulence from the intestines and firms the abdomen, thighs and buttocks.
	Khapalbhati / Blowing in Firm Pose Strengthens all the abdominal organs and increases circulation. Makes the abdominal wall strong and trims the waistline. {http://livebreatheyoga.com/bikram-yoga-poses/}