"Hot Yoga" vs. "Bikram Yoga"

For the past three years I've been practicing "hot yoga." Check out my "Yoga" tab above for more details. Essentially I'd heard about hot yoga for a while but never entertained it. As an athlete growing up cheering, playing softball and swimming, my main resource for working out was the gym, or the sports and practices themselves.

I stumbled upon hot yoga through a groupon that was close to my hood, so I thought what the heck!! I'll never forget my first experience. Luckily I made it through the class, and I'll just say I'm glad I made it home alive. I was completely depleted, dehydrated, dizzy, slightly confused and was barely able to drive home! I quickly realized the importance of hydration if you are to engage in this type of exercise.

This however quickly became an addiction for me. My unfulfilled desire to become a dancer was somewhat fulfilled through the elegant body movements of yoga. I also realized how much of a stress reliever this was, too. Duh "working out" should be a stress reliever, right? But this was different, it calmed me. It centered me. It was a way to not only connect with myself, but with the universe as well. It's hard to really put words to it, but I was hooked. "Hot Yoga" got me in the best shape of my life. It grounded and connected me like no other, and I needed for nothing else!!!

SO, throughout these years I would always hear about "Bikram Yoga." My first thoughts were "I'm doing hot yoga, what's the difference?!" Well recently in Bali I took my first official "Bikram" class so I could see what all the "talk" was about.

Bikram yoga classes normally run for 90 minutes in a heated room and includes a couple of breathing exercises with a series of 26 postures that you repeat once or twice on each side. Here is the typical sequence:



Bikram yogis swear by the order of the sequence, that is touches and squeezes every organ and vein in your body, helping clean out arteries, balancing blood pressure, improving posture, etc.  The class was great. The teacher talks you through each pose, on each side, and alerts you when to change.

So now my comparative to the "hot yoga" I've been doing. I must say I'm one lucky girl because my current hot yoga studio back home set me up for success! We practice ALL of those Bikram poses! I thought I would be walking into a Bikram class like a deer in headlights as if I was about to learn a new language. Turns out little did I know I already knew this language, and I rocked out at it! My studio back home offers over 5 different "hot yoga" classes - meaning the flow of each class is different. Some are more flow based, some are based on standing postures, and some are a mix. I LOVE IT! I love that I can experience "hot yoga" in many forms and sequences. I love the variation and honestly think I would get bored doing the same 26 poses in a row over and over again each time I worked out.

So here's my conclusion - who cares what type of yoga you do! Whether it's Bikram, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Kundalini, Backyard yoga, LOL. WHO CARES! Yoga is YOUR practice. It's what YOU make of it, and what feels good to YOU. It is absolutely OK if someone raves about their studio, or their style of yoga. That's great! But never feel like you are missing out on something if you love the current style of yoga you're doing. Try it out! It's OK to try them all out! Just remember yoga is about YOU and what feels good to YOU.

I'm very happy that I experienced an official Bikram class, but now I can mark that off my list because I am very happy where I am, and excited to see what other types of yoga I can explore in the future. Who knows, I may fall in love with something else, I may not!

Life is about the journey, not the destination. ;)

Namaste!