Bikram Yoga – What Changes Does It Bring To Your Body

Bikram yoga is one of the hottest new workouts on the block.

It’s a high-intensity workout performed in a room heated to about 40 degrees Celsius (104°F). Bikram yoga is now practised by people of all ages and fitness levels. 

It improves your flexibility, strength, and endurance. If you want to know more about this excellent workout, then keep reading!

So, how does Bikram yoga change your body?

The benefits of a Bikram yoga workout can be summarized in a few ways. So let’s get through them, shall we?

Increased flexibility: As Bikram yoga is advertised as a way to increase flexibility, it does just that. Regular yoga practice may help you become more flexible by stretching and lengthening your muscles, but Bikram yoga takes it up a notch, with its 40°C (104°F) heat and 26 movements. 

Bikram yoga stretches and lengthens muscles, tendons, ligaments, and even the arteries. So, if you need to improve your flexibility, take up Bikram yoga.

Increased stamina: Bikram yoga postures are fluidly linked together one after the other, requiring you to be in them for about three minutes each. You get out of each pose only when you get to the next one, and this cycle continues for around 90 minutes! 

And because you're holding your stretches for three whole minutes, it requires stamina and endurance on your part. You'll see your stamina and endurance levels peak after a good Bikram yoga session.

Increased muscle strength: To hold such asanas (postures) for such long durations, you need to be more than flexible. You need to have some muscle strength as well. 

So while flexibility improves with the regular practice of Bikram yoga, you also strengthen your muscles and joints through the practice of these postures.

Detoxification: Bikram yoga detoxifies the body through sweating. It gets rid of all the toxins accumulated in your muscles and organs over the years, making them more robust in the process. 

Bikram yoga also induces respiration, which helps get rid of carbon dioxide, ammonia, and other toxic gases from your body at a fast rate. 

In addition, it leads to an improvement in your absorption of oxygen, which strengthens you.

Cardiovascular health: Bikram yoga helps keep your heart and circulatory system healthy. It increases the circulation of your blood in your body, which keeps your cardiovascular system healthy. 

Regular Bikram yoga will also help you develop proper breathing patterns, essential for keeping your heart healthy.

Weight loss: Bikram yoga burns up calories. It’s not the calorie-burning kind of workout, but it does help burn off calories! The postures help you rid your body of so many toxins and waste products. 

These will be converted into energy, which is released in the form of heat. This heat burns these harmful compounds, thus helping you shed pounds.

Well-being: Bikram yoga is a great way to improve your overall health and well-being. It improves your body’s general fitness level, keeping you healthy and fit for life.

In addition, the postures only require you to do them for a few minutes each, so you can do them at home or at least once a day. It makes Bikram yoga very convenient.

Sleep-promoting hormones: Bikram yoga helps you sleep better at night. It increases the release of melatonin, which is a sleep-inducing hormone. 

It also helps reduce cortisol levels, the stress hormone that makes you anxious and lowers blood pressure levels.

Stress management: Your body’s ability to handle stress improves after regular Bikram yoga practice. The muscle stretching, joint movements, and breathing exercises help relieve tension and reduce stress-related disorders like anxiety and depression.

Reduced chronic pain: Bikram yoga exercises can help you reduce chronic pain. The 26 postures help you work out the muscles and joints in your body, thus relieving pain and tension in them.

Increased concentration: You’ll be able to attend to more things once you finish a Bikram yoga session. Your blood circulation will be concentrated as your muscles and organs will work overtime, making your mind more alert and attentive.

Conclusion

As you can see, Bikram yoga can change your body in many ways. From flexibility to strength to weight loss and well-being, it covers a lot of ground in 90 minutes. 

In addition, the complete series of the 26 postures are designed so that each pose builds upon the last, so you mustn't miss out on any of them. So hurrah for Bikram yoga!