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Hot yoga practitioners proclaim healing benefits

Kharin Gilbert was at her wit’s end when she stepped into her first Bikram yoga class in a small studio in Studio City, Calif. “A year before, I had been playing an innocent game of tennis when an overly aggressive swing resulted in a twang that I both felt and heard,” she says.

Kharin practiced traditional hatha yoga for years, but had stopped because of the injury she sustained while playing tennis. She then ran into an old yoga friend who immediately suggested she try Bikram yoga as a treatment.

“I explained all my physical reasons for why I couldn’t do yoga, as well as my considerable resistance to what I’d heard about the heat and the highly structured, uncompassionate classes. I loved my touchy-feely yoga and couldn’t imagine having the same feeling in a highly technical, non-spiritual environment,” Kharin says.

But, at her friend’s urging, Kharin decided to give Bikram a try.

“I went the next morning and after 90 minutes of shear torture, my pain was 70 percent better. One class did more to alleviate my pain than a year’s worth of doctor visits, pills and bills,” she says.

Also known as “hot yoga,” Bikram classes are conducted in 105-degree heat. According to its many dedicated students, Bikram yoga eases ailments ranging from knee injuries to depression.

Each Bikram yoga class uses 26 postures and two breathing exercise completed in the same order, twice each over 90 minutes.

“The repetition in the series is beneficial for several reasons,” says Nicolle Lincir, owner of Bikram Yoga Manhattan Beach. “Students do not have to worry about what comes next and they can focus on their breath and meditation. The repetition also acts as a gage so students can noticeably see their improvements.”

There are 5,000 Bikram studios nationwide, with Bikram International Headquarters located in Los Angeles on Olympic Boulevard. The organization claims the sauna-like heat may be good for chronic pain and certain pulmonary conditions, among other ailments, and encourages practitioners with the bold mantra, “Never too late, never too old, never too sick to start from scratch once again.”

Lincir explains, “Bikram's beginning series is great in that anyone can do it. It was designed for everyone. It teaches discipline and an equal balance of strength and flexibility. The heat helps loosen up the muscles and helps you to remain calm despite the warm room. It’s kind of a microcosm of life ... good practice to be calm in the heat of a storm.”