Torture Chamber: Burn 1000 calories. Its Bikram Yoga

There’s a new craze in town amongst fitness fanatics like me; Bikram Yoga. It’s a series of 26 postures of stretches, bends and twists, designed to work every part of your body down to the cellular level. What's unique about this kind of yoga is that for 90 minutes, it's practiced in a 40.6 degrees Celsius  heated studio at 40% humidity, commonly referred to as the “Torture Chambers”. Yes, it's all that you can imagine, and more! In my first class, I literally thought I was going to pass out! However, after rehydrating and a shower, I felt energized, mentally alert, relaxed and my skin was visibly glowing. I was hooked! I had to come back! A few months later, I am leaner, more defined and my core is much stronger.

The heat is designed to warm the body inside-out making you flexible. The body can then be easily bent and stretched beyond normal flexibility, allowing for optimum performance. Warm muscles burn fat more easily, anywhere between 500-1000 calories in a session. As you sweat, your open pores flush out toxins giving your skin a healthy glow. No weights or props are used, only your body weight and mental strength against gravity. Your mind is called upon to be 100% focused from moment to moment; causing rebalancing of your entire muscular system. Every organ in the body, every muscle, every tendon, is worked.

Your goal in day one is to stay in the room for the entire 90 minutes. In the first half of the class, you are allowed to 'take a knee' when you feel light headed, this is normal and it means you are doing the postures correctly. Your body is experiencing a ‘culture shock’ so to speak. You are taking it where it has never been before. As you rest, keep your head above your heart, otherwise you will feel dizzy.

To prepare for class, eat at least three hours before and drink lots of water to hydrate. Bring a yoga mat, a towel, bottle of water and wear comfortable clothing. Each posture is repeated twice, ensure you attempt at least one set. Silence is mandatory throughout the class, only the instructor talks. Focus on yourself in the mirror. You execute the posture through listening to the instructions from the instructor.
The class starts with warm up breathing exercises and ends with the same. Breathing deeply and efficiently ensures your muscles and brain have sufficient oxygen supply to sustain the 90 minute workout.

Tip: From beginning to end, breathe through your nose only as this will help control your heart beat. Breathing through your mouth will cause you internal anxiety and speed up your heart rate. Respect your neighbors by refraining from indulging in exaggerated breathing or panting noises. Everybody is having a hard time.

Remember, everybody in class is at a different level, each pushing the limits. Focus on your body, and every day you push your own limits. You watch and experience the transformation first within you, then outside on the physical. Even for the experienced, one day is never the same as the next. Approach each class like it’s your first; no expectations, no judgment, just do the yoga.        The only bad class is the one you don't attend.

Postures: My favorite postures are also the most challenging:

Half Moon Pose: The reason it’s at the beginning is to warm the spine and prepare your entire skeleton for future postures. Your spine will be bent backwards then flipped 180 degrees forward. As you bend forehead to knee, stretching your spine to your toes, you will have sweat dripping into your eyes, nose, mouth and ears, ignore it and keep stretching. This posture firms and trims the waistline, hips, abdomen, buttocks and thighs.
 
Tip: Don't bother wiping off sweat, it only distracts you. As sweat drips, it cools down your body, just let it.

Awkward Pose: Tests endurance and mental strength as well as tones and shapes legs and arms. This posture is good for arthritis and gout.



 Eagle Pose: Also known as the ‘fertility posture’ because it massages the reproductive organs 






Standing Head to Knee: This pose engages the stabilizing muscles of the body, those around the knee and above it. To do this requires enormous mental concentration, enormous determination and enormous physical strength. You will fall out quite a bit in the beginning, but as my instructor says, you fall ten times, you get back eleven times. This kind of endurance and concentration under enormous physical strain is an asset in dealing with real issues out in the real world.

 

Standing Bow Pose: An average person has about a gallon and a half of blood in the body. This posture moves most of the blood from one side of the body to the other, then back again. The act of blood rushing back and evening out flushes out waste and toxins as well as redistributes nutrition to the deep cells of the body.  It creates a marriage between strength and balance, firming the abdominal wall and upper thighs as well as improving the digestive system.

Balancing Stick: In this pose, all body muscles are activated to use 110% body strength in ten seconds. Blood rushes at high-speed pouring into the heart and brain. Veins and arteries are cleaned and strengthened preventing future cardiac problems. It’s also good for varicose veins. After getting out of this posture, you will feel like you have just run a marathon. You will feel overwhelmed and even emotional. Focus on your breathing to control your heart rate.

Locust Pose: Tuck in your hands and elbows under your belly. Lift your lower limbs 90 degrees using only your core muscles and shoulders. Everything will hurt, neck, shoulders, back, core muscles, arms, hips and legs. Everything! Good for slipped discs, varicose veins and relieves tennis elbow.








As in all exercises, please consult your doctor before starting this practice.
“It’s never too late, it’s never too bad, and you’re never too old or too sick to start from scratch once again”-Bikram Choudhury

Location:


The Nairobi Bikram Yoga studio; Lavington Green Shopping Centre, off James Gichuru Road, 2nd floor.
Weekdays: 6am, 8am, 10am, 5pm, 7pm
Weekends; 8am, 10am, 12pm, 4pm