New in Yoga

Natural Herbs and Bikram for Hormonal Imbalances in Women

...rucial role in various physiological functions, including reproduction, development and metabolism. Stress, infection and diet can influence your hormone levels. Herbs such as black cohosh and Bikram yoga are alternative met...

Asanas to Strengthen the Lower Back

An asana generally refers to a specific yoga pose you hold while bending the body. Asanas strengthen the body and focus the mind. Several asanas are beneficial for increasing the strength in your lower back and reducing pain, m...

The Best Exercises to Complement Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga, also called hot yoga, involves moving among a series of 26 poses in a room where the temperature and humidity level are elevated. According to the website Fit Day, a Bikram yoga session burns up to 630 calories. Co...

Bikram Yoga & Serotonin

Bikram, or hot yoga, is a modern form of an ancient system of postures and breathing that developed many centuries ago in India. All forms of yoga are meant to increase your flexibility, regulate your breathing and put your min...

Chest Muscle Pain From Doing Ashtanga Yoga

Ashtanga Yoga is a form of Yoga developed by the sage Vamana Rishi and made popular by Pattabhi Jois of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute. Ashtanga Yoga requires eight spiritual practices: moral codes, self-purification and ...

Hot Yoga Vs. Swimming

At first glance, hot yoga and swimming appear to have little in common with each other. However, they actually do possess several similarities. Of course, they do differ in quite a few aspects, as well. This can actually be mor...

Bikram Yoga & Cholesterol

Bikram Yoga is a type of low-impact exercise that has become increasingly more popular in the U.S. over the last couple of decades. Yoga is an ancient system of different postures and breathing techniques that contribute to fle...

A Shooting Lower Back Pain After Inverting

Many studies have indicated the benefits of yoga for relieving chronic lower back pain. Newbies may experience an aching in the back after the first few yoga sessions. More experienced yogis may feel a muscle ache as well, part...

Chest Pains After Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga is performed in a room with an elevated temperature and humidity level. The theory behind this practice is that the conditions help with muscle flexibility, allowing you to move deeper into the 26 standard poses, wh...

I Get Lower Back Pain When Sitting on the Floor for Yoga

Lower back pain can make every movement uncomfortable from the moment you wake up until you fall asleep. While yoga can make existing back pain worse, it can also be part of the solution. Sixteen million Americans practice yoga...

Cramping of the Hands With Bikram Yoga

Named after its founder, Bikram Choudhury, Bikram yoga is practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit with the intent of promoting sweating and increasing flexibility. The increased heat can help relax your muscles, bu...

How to Do a Plank With Weight Transfer

The plank pose is a traditional yoga posture that uses your natural body weight to strengthen your core, back and shoulder muscles. The plank pose with weight transfer is a modern twist on the classic posture that adds weight l...

Naukasana Benefits

Yoga is a form of exercise that requires you to perform a series of movements that focus on strengthening your body and helping you concentrate on your breathing. Yoga's benefits include a decrease in your stress level, which w...

Tips on 30 Days of Bikram

Bikram yoga, also known as hot yoga, is performed in a heat-controlled environment where temperatures reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. A Bikram Challenge, also called 30 Days of Bikram, involves sweating through a Bikram sess...

How to Do Sanmukhi Mudra

The yoga move Sanmukhi mudra refers to the placement of your hands to help you escape the distraction of your outer senses. Gently closing your eyes, nose, mouth and ears allows you to focus on your internal senses. This state ...

What Poses Are in the Three Series of Ashtanga Yoga?

Ashtanga yoga is a holistic practice that focuses on various levels of human consciousness, which include psychological, physical and spiritual. Although ashtanga is based on six series of asanas, the system employs three centr...

Drinking Electrolytes During Bikram Yoga

Although you can work up a sweat in many styles of yoga, Bikram yogis take perspiration to the extreme. A 26-posture series developed by Bikram Choudhury, Bikram yoga requires students to practice in a studio heated to about 10...

Restrictions in Arm Binds in Yoga

Arm binds are common in yoga poses, but some restrictions could limit your arm binds. Arm binds are more advanced variations of certain poses and can require a sufficient amount of time spent on your yoga practice before you at...

Pelvic Yoga Postures for the Abdominals

Yoga, an ancient system of holistic health, involves the practice of poses, known as asanas in Sanskrit. Many of these asanas strengthen the core muscles, also known as the abdominal muscles. The core muscles are also connected...

Diet Tips During Bikram Yoga to Lose Weight

In the 1970s, Bikram Choudhury invented the increasingly popular form of "hot yoga" practiced in studios heated to 105 degrees. A subset of 26 asanas, or poses, from hatha yoga are always performed in the same sequenc...

Antigravity Yoga to Lose Weight

Antigravity yoga is a great way to lose weight and can be as gentle or vigorous as you want on any given day. Antigravity yoga is normally done using a yoga swing, which you can easily set up at home or in a gym-setting. Antigr...

How Quickly Does Bikram Yoga Work?

Bikram yoga is a substyle of hatha yoga developed and licensed by Bikram Choudhury. It consists of 26 postures designed to develop strength and flexibility while being performed in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Like ...

Comparison of Bön Vs. Buddhism Dream Yoga

...n as Bön. Both religions began to discover some common ground in their treasured texts and practices. They each embrace techniques to cultivate greater awareness, including the practice of dream yoga.

How to Improve Bikram Yoga Poses

Students of Bikram hot yoga perform the same 26-posture series in every 90-minute class. According to Bikram theory, the repetition enables practitioners to focus on each pose in ever-finer detail and learn to pace themselves i...

How Practicing Yoga Helps Cleanse the Body

For the most part, yoga doesn't cleanse the body of impurities in a literal sense. However, in helping you shed stress, depression and anxiety, it can offer a spiritually cleansing experience, which also has significant health ...

Do Chakras Work?

Indian yoga and New Age spirituality both put a lot of focus on the "chakras," which are a set of seven energy wheels located along the human spinal cord at various points. Chakras are believed to be closely connected...

Tips for Bikram Yoga Poses

Bikram yoga is a system of 26 traditional poses performed in a particular sequence. Because Bikram is always performed at around 105 degrees Fahrenheit, it is often referred to as hot yoga. Bikram yoga poses can be challenging,...

Bone Loss From Yoga Vs. Weight Lifting

... and 34 million suffering from low bone mass, according to Gaiam, your workouts should be made for more than just physical appearance and heart health. Weight-bearing exercise, which certain forms of yoga offer, can be much ...

How Much Money Does a Bikram Yoga Teacher Make?

The amount of money a bikram yoga teacher makes varies, from $20,000 to upward of $80,000 per year, according to myjobsearch.com. The range is wide because the factors influencing salary are so varied. These include whether or ...

Yoga for Healers

The benefits of Yoga for alleviating medical and psychological ailments is gaining respect from mainstream health professionals. Yoga techniques are being incorporated into physical and psychological treatment programs. Strengt...

How to Cross Your Legs in Yoga

yoga classes often begin and end with seated meditation. Although some yoga practitioners sit Indian style, with their knees bent and their feet under their thighs, more advanced yogis often assume padmasana, or lotus pose. In ...

How Soon After Pregnancy Can I Start Bikram Yoga?

Bikram hot yoga, the strenuous, 26-posture series introduced to the U.S. by Bikram Choudhury, requires yogis to practice in a room heated to about 105 degrees. Pregnant women can and do perform Bikram yoga right up to their del...

Can Hot Yoga Make You Lose Weight?

Hot yoga enthusiasts often tout that you can lose over 1,000 calories by performing a 90-minute session. In this specially designed workout, you perform 26 poses at a temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. However, while you ma...

Boxing Workout vs. Ashtanga Yoga

When considering choices for a workout, few options might seem as different on the surface as boxing and Ashtanga yoga. However, they two share many similarities: Both are full-body workouts; both are best practiced in a class ...

How to Make Noise Breathing Through Your Nose in Yoga

Yoga is a combination of physical exercise and mindful meditation that centers on the breath at all times. One form of yogic breathing, kapalabhati pranayama, is also known as skull-brightening or head-clearing breath. In kapal...

Can Hot Yoga Cause Pulled Muscles?

Hot yoga came to the United States in the 1970s with the arrival of Bikram Choudhury, a native of India whose guru had sent him to help spread yoga to the West. Bikram yoga is a strictly codified — copyrighted, in fact &#...

Does Hot Yoga Tone Muscles?

All forms of weight-bearing exercise, including the hatha yoga postures included in the Bikram hot yoga series, can tone your muscles when you practice consistently with sufficient intensity. Muscles begin to atrophy -- or lose...

Anusara Yoga Shoulder Principles

Anusara yoga teaches you to embrace life with gratitude and joy. Starting from this place, you can draw into your body’s natural healing process and learn how optimal alignment in areas such as your shoulders refine the f...

Do You Lose Weight Faster With Yoga or Belly Dancing?

...ds are more likely to see consistent weight loss results than those that workout sporadically and vigorously, and eat a poor diet. With proper lifestyle choices, you can lose weight from doing either yoga or belly dancing.

Legs Are Sore After Starting Yoga

Starting a Yoga practice can give you a discipline for increasing your flexibility, mindfulness, balance and endurance. It's natural to experience sore legs after Yoga, particularly when you're learning new exercises. Yoga comb...

Is Cardio or Yoga the Fastest for Losing Weight?

Choosing the right exercise program for weight loss can be difficult. Cardio and yoga can both help, but in different ways. If you are struggling with your weight, talk to your doctor first to find out if a specific type of car...

What Is Bikram Yoga Fitness?

yoga studios offering Bikram yoga often enjoy a cult-like following. Happen upon a Bikram yoga -- also known as hot yoga -- class and you'll see yogis from nearly every experience level. While Bikram yoga might not be the best ...

How Do Chakras Influence Our Physical Body?

...s to situations, their beliefs, past pain and internal stress. A deficient chakra doesn't give or receive its corresponding energy; an excessive chakra becomes a dominating aspect in a person's life, Yoga Journal states.

Bikram Yoga to Treat Glaucoma

Bikram yoga is done in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit, but it might not be the right exercise setting if you have certain types of glaucoma. Many health experts don’t recommend the intense yoga as a treatment for...

Advanced Bikram Yoga Poses & Postures

Bikram yoga, also known as Bikram hot yoga, is a type of hatha yoga that is taught in studios heated between 90 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Practicing in heated rooms is supposed to promote flexibility, help prevent injury, and...

How to Modify Bikram Yoga Poses

Bikram yoga is one of the more popular forms, and regular practice can help improve your strength, flexibility and overall sense of well-being. However, if you are pregnant, have any joint conditions, chronic pain or other limi...

Running Vs. Bikram Yoga for Cardiovascular

Running has long been considered by practitioners and researchers as one of the best cardiovascular workouts you can do. Practitioners of Bikram yoga say it's also an intense workout for your heart. Some claim it's as intense a...

Muscle Tone From Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga, also known as "hot" yoga, centers around a series of 26 poses performed in a specific sequence in a room heated to a temperature between 104 and 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Performing Bikram poses on a regular basis of...

Bikram Yoga Diet

India native Bikram Choudhury introduced his style of yoga to the U.S. in the 1970s after his Indian guru, Bishnu Ghosh, directed him to help spread hatha yoga to the West. Sometimes known generically as "hot yoga," Bikram yoga...

How Much Weight Do You Lose During Heat Yoga?

"Heat yoga" and "hot yoga" are generic terms for Bikram yoga, a 26-posture series that Bikram Choudhury introduced to the United States in the 1970s. Bikram studio operators conduct classes in rooms heated to 105 degrees Fahren...

Does Bikram Yoga Replace Weightlifting?

Many yoga practitioners and teachers believe that yoga is all you need in terms of exercise. While this may be true for some people, it entirely depends on what your goals are and why you are considering one over the other inst...

Can Bikram Yoga Replace Weight Training?

You might tend to focus on the fact that yoga typically does not burn as many calories as aerobic exercise; instead, look at yoga as a form of strength training you can perform as an alternative or in addition to weight trainin...

Numbness in Fingers and Toes After Yoga Practice

In many cases, exercise and yoga effectively reduce the incidence of numbness throughout the body. However, in some cases, such as pinched nerves, particular yoga postures can actually worsen the condition and heighten symptoms...

Benefits of Jogging Vs. Yoga

Jogging and yoga both offer a way to burn calories, tone your muscles and reduce stress. They are portable forms of exercise, as minimal equipment is required and you can jog or practice yoga in almost any environment. However,...

Deep Inner Thigh Yoga Stretches & Pregnancy

yoga provide various health benefits throughout pregnancy including improved muscle tone, posture and circulation. Breathing techniques used during yoga promote relaxation, which may help during labor and other restless times d...

Is Hot Yoga Good for Hypothyroid Patients?

...ody uses to regulate metabolic processes. Symptoms of low thyroid hormone include sluggishness, weight gain, poor skin tone, brittle nails, depression and constipation. Limited evidence suggests that yoga practice can help h...

Side Effects of Starting Bikram Yoga

...spite the harsh conditions, Bikram -- as he's called by students -- considers his beginner series appropriate for yogis in any condition and of any age. Check with your doctor before beginning Bikram yoga if you are pregnant...

Can Hot Yoga Make Your Arms Smaller?

yoga is effective in elongating and toning all parts of the body, including the arms. When yoga is done in a heated room, the added cardiovascular component burns calories and fat, revealing the arms' firm musculature over time...

Can Bikram Yoga Sculpt Your Inner Thigh?

Advocates of Bikram yoga boast of its many benefits. Bikram has been known to help relieve chronic ailments, clear up skin and increase heart health. Its body-sculpting benefits are also recognized among Bikram's 26 poses. This...

Who Should Not Do Bikram Yoga?

As soon as you enter the room, the heat hits you in the face. Eager participants are already sweating. Bikram yoga, a style done with the heat cranked to 105 degrees, is for the seriously fit or the seriously motivated. Some sh...

Leg Numbness and Yoga

Numbness and tingly feelings in the leg can range from mildly irritating to seriously problematic, especially if it's impacting your mobility. Yoga can help with a great deal of leg numbness. Postures that increase blood flow, ...

What Is the Meaning of Raja Yoga?

Raja yoga is one of the most esoteric forms of yoga practiced by the fewest followers of Hinduism. It concentrates heavily on training the mind, connecting with the life force and withdrawing into the highest states of spiritua...

What Is the Yoga Move for Back Fat?

...muscles specifically. Although it's not possible to spot reduce --- that is, melt fat from a particular place on the body --- it is possible to engage, firm and tighten muscles on the posterior body. Yoga provides several ba...

Anusara Yoga Exercises

In the evolving world of yoga with its 5,000-year-old history, the Anusara style is comparatively young. Formed in 1997 by yoga teacher John Friend, Anusara yoga is grounded in the philosophy that yoga is a "celebration of the ...

Facts About Raja Yoga

The four forms of yoga practiced in Hinduism are jnana, bhakti, karma and raja, with two subtypes -- hatha and tantra. Raja yoga is the most obscure of the four, with the least amount of Hindu followers, according to the Univer...

Ankle Inversion & Eversion Exercises

Injuries to the ankle are extremely common and can often leave lingering weakness. Injuries such as sprains and strains often affect the ligaments and tendons that run along the sides of the foot. These ligaments and tendons ar...

Five Specific Health Benefits of Yoga

The word Yoga stems from the Sanskrit term that means union. Yoga involves a series of postures, meditation techniques and breathing methods specifically designed to help you bring your mind and body together in balance. Yoga o...

Bikram and Sweating

Born in 1970, the practice of Bikram yoga is composed of 26 postures to be performed in a room at a minimum temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit with 40 percent humidity. Founder Bikram Choudhury claims that his yoga practice ...

Sore Lower Back and Legs From Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga is also known as hot yoga, done in a studio heated to up to 105 degrees. It was created by Bikram Choudhury and consists of 26 poses and two breathing exercises done in the same sequence each time. You may experienc...

Yoga Routines After Heart Surgery

Exercise is an important part of heart surgery recovery, and yoga is a great source of low-impact activity that can also reduce stress and help control heart rhythms. Follow all post-surgery instructions carefully, and stop exe...

Definition of Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga, sometimes referred to as hot yoga, is a form of yoga done in a heated studio. Heat is used to loosen tight muscles, allowing you to correct any postural deviations or injuries. Bikram yoga can only be taught by an ...

How to Take a Day Off Between Workouts

Taking a day off from your workouts allows your body to properly recover from training stresses. Proper muscular recovery ensures that you can perform the best you can during your next workout. Failing to take regular days off ...

6 Myths of Yoga

The practice of Yoga dates back more than 5,000 years, according to the American Yoga Association. A number of myths about Yoga have developed throughout the years, such as it being only for women or the same as stretching. Loo...

How to Do a Full Split Without Hurting Yourself

You do the splits by extending one leg forward, while extending the other leg backward and lowering your pelvis to the floor. The splits require flexibility in the quads and hamstrings as well as the hip flexors and buttocks. I...

Indian & Russian Yoga

Russian yoga is similar to Indian yoga in that there is a focus on asanas, or poses, done in sequence with a concentration on the breath. Russian yoga, however, does not pull from any type of yoga, whereas Indian yoga is based ...

Bikram Yoga Tips

Bikram Choudhury adapted 26 poses from the Hatha tradition to create Bikram or "hot" Yoga. A four-time winner of the National India Yoga Championship, Choudhury brought the expertise he gained from his Yoga teachers in India to...

My Hands and Arms Went Numb After Hot Yoga

Although yoga is often thought of as a relaxing practice that can soothe and prevent injuries, it can also cause problems of its own. Temporary numbness after a hot yoga class may not be serious -- but prolonged numbness may in...

Yoga Strap Techniques

A yoga strap is a belt-like prop used to assist you in advanced yoga poses or improve your alignment in a specific pose. They can also provide unique variations on specific postures. It is best to consult with your yoga teache...

The Advantages of Yoga for Children

yoga, an ancient system of holistic health, means "to join" or "unite." There are eight parts to a yoga practice, all with the goal of attaining optimum balance, health and awareness. yoga can be practiced by people of all ages...

How Long Has Yoga Been Around?

Proponents of yoga claim the activity gives the person an understanding of the natural order of the cosmos and illustrates the person's path to become one with the divine maker. The origins of the practice date to prehistory an...

The Best Yoga Postures for the Upper Thoracic Hump

...ion called kyphosis, which is a hump in the thoracic spine. Correcting this problem requires strengthening your back and opening your chest area which has become compressed from slouching. Practicing yoga can help get you ov...

Six Guidelines for Yoga Practice

...prehensive, but in most cases, raring to get started. Now's a good time to put on the brakes. Until you have researched an activity in which you'd like to be involved, it's unwise to go forward. Even yoga, which seems to be ...

Bikram Yoga & Meditation

...oughts to achieve a higher state of consciousness. However, there are many forms of meditation, from the Buddhist practice of sitting meditation to the whirling and twirling of Sufi dervishes. Bikram yoga fits comfortable in...

Negative Inversion Exercises

Many people use inversion therapy to maintain spinal health and reduce back pain. Inversion exercises are performed while hanging upside down, and use gravity to remove pressure from joints in the body. Negative inversion exerc...

A Description of Hibiscus & Kriya Yoga

Kriya yoga is an ancient practice, but it didn't develop a wide following in the West until early in the 20th century with the teachings of Paramahansa yogananda. He studied in India and then taught in the West from 1920 to 195...

How to Avoid Foot Cramping During Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga is a form of hot yoga. The class generally runs 90 minutes and is done in a 105-degree room. The philosophy behind the practice is that the heat allows you to go deeper into the stretches and increases circulation t...

Yoga Hamstring Tips

While your hamstrings help you bend your knees, extend your legs, stand upright and move your hips, flexible and strong hamstrings can deepen your yoga practice, improve alignment and protect you from injury. Comprised of three...

Raja Yoga for Beginners

Raja yoga works to cultivate inner peace through meditation. It is less widely known than Hatha yoga, which includes postures, stretching and breathing exercises. The Sanskrit term "raja" means "royal," referring to the highest...

What Are the Benefits of Supta Virasana?

Supta Virasana, or Reclining Hero's Pose, is the reclining variation of Virasana, a seated yoga pose in which the buttocks rest on the floor between the feet, with the legs bent at the knees and the calves resting alongside the...

Bikram Yoga & Spinal Realignment

...to throw off the alignment of your bones, especially your hips and spine. The changes may be minuscule and you may not feel the effects until much later in life, but adopting a discipline like Bikram yoga that contains poses...

Running Before Taking Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga is an intensive yoga practice that takes place over 90 minutes in a heated studio. While some practitioners get all of their daily exercise during the intense stretching, strengthening and cardio sequences of a Bikr...

Yoga Siddhis Techniques

Siddhi is a Sanskrit word meaning "perfection" or "attainment." According to Swami Amritananda Saraswati, yoga siddhi techniques are methods used to derive your own psychic powers. Access to these powers are usually given by a ...

How to Use Bikram Postures

Standing in pools of sweat, in a 105 degree room, in complete silence is the reality of your Bikram yoga experience. Bikram Choudhury developed this hot yoga sequence made up of 26 different postures that focus on detoxifying y...

Yoga Toe Stretches

Your feet support the entire weight of your body as you move throughout the day. Reward your feet with yoga toe stretches to provide relief and rejuvenation. Stretching exercises are most helpful when you perform them daily. St...

Yoga for Beginners, Meditation, & Losing Weight

yoga is a popular activity, with 6.9 percent of Americans practicing this healthy exercise, according to the "yoga in America" study published in 2008 by "yoga Journal." People have been practicing yoga for three thousand years...

How Can Yoga Affect Your Life?

yoga can affect your life physically, mentally and spiritually. The aim of yoga is to create a union of body, mind and spirit through the practice of dozens of postures. You can derive some benefit from practicing yoga occasion...

Ashtanga Yoga Facts

Ashtanga yoga, a physical and spiritual practice, is one of the more popular forms of yoga. Practicing yoga not only enables you to stay fit, it allows you to go on a spiritual and phsychological journey. While some yoga is mo...

Is Bikram Yoga Bad for Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is the result of intraocular pressure or abnormally high pressure within the eye. The pressure can cause damage to the optical nerve and lead to vision loss. During a Bikram Yoga session, glaucoma sufferers should avoi...

Differences Between Ashtanga & Iyengar Yoga

Iyengar yoga and Ashtanga yoga share the same root principles but differ in style and purpose. Ashtanga yoga is an ancient system of yoga handed down to Pattabhi Jois in 1927. Pattabhi Jois promoted a flowing style of yoga gear...

Can a Pregnant Person Do Hot Yoga?

Most yoga studios offer prenatal yoga classes for the simple reason that women who have been practicing yoga for years and who have been given the go-ahead from their doctor can still enjoy the benefits of a yoga workout. Even ...

Yoga Clothes & Activewear

...on, but having the right clothes can make the difference between an enjoyably comfortable workout you want to repeat or an uncomfortable, even embarrassing experience. This is especially relevant for yoga, which can maneuver...

How to Get the Most Out of Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga consists of maneuvering your body through a specific sequence of poses for 90 minutes in a studio heated to 105 F. The yoga is based on the theory that working out in such high temperatures improves your mobility, f...

What Is Surat Shabd Yoga?

yoga is practiced around the world and offers a variety of styles, postures, poses and positions. A few of the more common styles of yoga include Iyengar, Bikram and Hatha. Some styles of yoga focus more on meditation and breat...

Bikram Yoga and the Pancreas

Bikram yoga is a series of hatha postures and breathing exercises practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees with infrared lights. Bikram yoga is used holistically to promote detoxification of the body through heavy sweating an...

Ways Yoga Can Reverse the Curve of Your Spine

Reversing the curve of your spine without resorting to surgery is possible, according to yoga teacher Elise Miller. Due to her own experience with scoliosis, Miller began researching ways to "de-rotate" her spine. Through her a...

Kaivalyadhama & Yoga Postures

Kaivalyadhama started in 1924 in a bungalow by Swami Kuvalayananda. Kuvalayananda was a student of Paramahamsa Madhavadas Maharaj, one of the first yoga teachers. The poses practiced in Kaivalyadhama are from the Ashtanga yoga ...

Weightlifting & Bikram Yoga

There's no specific connection between Bikram, or "hot," yoga and weightlifting. However, strength training is an important part of any fitness program, and lifting weights could help your muscles perform better in difficult yo...

Pregnancy & Bikram Yoga

Bikram yogis practice in a studio heated to about 105 degrees F with 30- to 40-percent humidity --- hence its nickname "hot yoga." Bikram Choudhury, who invented the 26-posture series, has said that the heat helps the body stre...

The Benefits of Yoga for Pregnant Women & Fetuses

Practicing yoga during pregnancy has physical and mental benefits. Prenatal yoga, as this form of yoga is called, incorporates movement, breathing and awareness. Physically, practicing yoga during pregnancy strengthens the mom-...

Ashtanga Yoga & Rectus Diastasis

Ashtanga yoga increases flexibility, purifies the body of toxins, clears the mind and strengthens muscles. Rectus diastasis, a condition causing the right and left side of the rectus abdominis muscle to separate, can develop du...

Yoga Asanas for Slim Hips

The centuries-old system of health maintenance called yoga originated in India. Its many postures, stretching and breathing exercises can provide a range of benefits, including balanced metabolism and weight loss. Some poses ma...

Bhagavad Gita & Yoga

...habharata," one of India's most famous poems. Written about 200 A.D., the "Gita" is considered the first yogic Scripture. The Gita contains the teachings of the raja, jnana, karma and bhakti forms of yoga. Each form has uniq...

Rules for Bikram Yoga

Two things set Bikram yoga apart from other styles of hatha yoga. First, Bikram yogis practice in studios typically heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit with 35 percent to 40 percent humidity -- hence the nickname "hot yoga." Secon...

Ashtanga Yoga at Home for Beginners

Starting a yoga practice may be one of the best things you do for yourself. Originating 5,000 years ago in India by men on a path of discovery about themselves and the nature of the universe, yoga has since become an accessible...

The Significance of 108 in Kundalini Yoga

...alini comes from the word kundal, which means lock of hair from the beloved. The unlocking of this hair is the awakening of kundalini energy, a powerful force that exists in every human. In kundalini yoga, mantras using mala...

Yoga Asanas for Arthritis

yoga focuses on creating a mind, body and spirit connection. Asanas, also called poses or postures, are the physical part of yoga. Asanas improve your strength, flexibility and balance. Other components of yoga include meditati...

Yoga Asanas for Hip Stabilization & Strength

...at provide balance, mobility and support for our bodies. It is important to keep the muscles surrounding the hip joint strong and active to maintain stability. Specific poses, or asanas, practiced in yoga may help you do jus...

Bikram Yoga & Eating Disorders

Recovery from an eating disorder is typically multi-faceted, involving psychotherapy, nutritional counseling, medical supervision and safe exercise. Yoga may be helpful for some individuals with eating disorders and provide hea...

Yoga Asanas for Belly Fat

...ormones that can increase your risk of serious health problems, including strokes, heart disease and some forms of cancer and diabetes, according to MayoClinic.com. Toning your abdominal muscles with yoga asanas can help you...

Are Bikram Yoga Poses Energizing Like Sleep?

yoga offers a workout that is much different than a typical strength training or aerobic workout. While employing flexibility, muscular strength, muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance, yoga relaxes the mind and body. ...

How to Stabilize & Strengthen the Hips With Yoga Asanas

Stable, strong hips help you walk, run, ride a bike and dance. To increase stability in your hips, practice yoga poses, or asanas, that balance and strengthen surrounding muscles, including the hamstrings, quadriceps, psoas, il...

Yoga Asanas for Sciatica

...iatica. This condition takes place when compression occurs somewhere along the path of the large sciatic nerve. This can be due to a slipped disk, narrowing of the spine or an injury. In the world of yoga, the sanskrit word ...

Yoga Postures for the SI Joint

Senior yoga teacher Judith Lasater was deep into her yoga practice one day when she heard a loud popping sound. After she consulted with specialists who could not explain the dull pain in her lower back, her chiropractor finall...

Bikram Yoga & Hypertension

...mended to reduce high blood pressure, not all exercises cause the same response during the activity. If you currently have hypertension, you may need to use modifications when participating in Bikram yoga. The high temperatu...

Complete Listing of the Types of Yoga

People have been practicing yoga for more than 5,000 years, as evidenced in stone carvings depicting various yoga poses found in archeological sites in the Indus Valley. In the centuries since, three important principles of yog...

Pranayama & Pain

One way that yoga helps reduce pain is through pranayama, or yoga breathing. It is slow and controlled. You concentrate on inhaling deeply and exhaling completely, even holding your breath slightly at the end of your exhalation...

Yoga Sequence for Addiction Recovery

When you have an addiction to something, you have a difficult time controlling the frequency or amount of consumption. Yoga, an ancient system of holistic health, might help in the process of addiction recovery. Consult your do...

Bikram Yoga for Sciatica

...body, travels from your spinal cord down through each leg. Anything from a herniated disk to a fall down the stairs can irritate the sciatic nerve and cause you months of pain. For relief, try Bikram yoga for sciatica. Bikra...

Yoga Asanas for the Ankles

The ankles allow you to move your feet inward, outward, up and down in circular directions. Yoga asanas, also known as poses, help stretch the muscles that make these movements possible. With more flexible ankles, you will be l...

Bikram Yoga for Lung Health

The 26 yoga postures that comprise the Bikram yoga style were adapted from the Hatha yoga tradition by its creator Bikram Choudhury. Designed as a means by which to achieve "optimum health and maximum function," Bikram yoga pos...

Health Effects of Bikram Yoga

Founded by Bikram Choudhury, the "bad boy" of the yoga world, bikram yoga's popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, as noted by the "New York Times." Also known as "hot yoga," this form of yoga uses 26 postures, or asanas, ...

Yoga Poses for Restless Legs Syndrome

...ing, some people with RLS experience the additional challenge of trying to work and go about their daily business exhausted and often depressed. While there is no cure for RLS, gentle and restorative yoga poses can help ease...

The Exercises for a Scoliotic Patient

Scoliosis is a common back condition that causes curvature to the spine. There are limitations and considerations to adhere to when exercising with scoliosis for the health of your back. However, with many cases of scoliosis, e...

Bikram Yoga for Asthma

After practicing Bikram yoga for thirty days, asthma-sufferer Hamlet Sweeney exclaimed that "my breathing felt stronger and by the time it ended I realized I hadn't used my inhaler, not even once." If you suffer from asthma, Bi...

Bikram Yoga & Toxins

Bikram yoga is a type of Hatha yoga that involves practicing in a heated room to improve your flexibility along with other benefits. Followers of Bikram yoga believe it is a great way to detoxify the body. There are many types ...

Hypertension Benefits From Yoga for the Legs

...cal term for high blood pressure. Hypertension occurs when the amount of blood pumped to your arteries is too much for them to handle. Left untreated, hypertension can lead to heart disease. Specific yoga poses used to stret...

Bikram Yoga & Back Pain

Many people have turned to yoga to ease their aches and pains. The Bikram yoga sequence of 26 poses performed in a super-heated room contains several postures that are said to help to alleviate back pain. If you experience pain...

Is Bikram Yoga Good for the Back?

Bikram yoga is considered to be one of the most rigorous forms of Hatha yoga. Practiced for 90 minutes in a room that's heated to 105 F with far infrared heaters, Bikram yoga is a series of 26 postures and two breathing exerci...

Muscles Stretched by Yoga Asanas

Asana is an Indian term that defines a pose or position. The word is likely familiar to anyone learning or practicing Yoga. Yoga asanas can be done while seated, lying down or standing, offering a variety of benefits to the bod...

Yoga Mat Vs. Yoga Towel

Because yoga includes many poses on your hands, knees, stomach and back, using a mat or towel can help alleviate discomfort by giving the body some padding. It can also prevent your hands and feet from slipping due to sweat, es...

Bikram Yoga & Diarrhea

Diarrhea's causes usually lie in food triggers, bacteria or viruses, and in chronic conditions, not in physical exercises such as yoga. However, if you do come down with diarrhea, you should consider taking a few days off from ...

Yoga Retreats & Teacher Training Around the World

yoga is a relaxing and healthy practice that many people around the world enjoy. Getting away for a yoga holiday is an attractive option for practitioners, aspiring yoga teachers and those new to the discipline. Whether you pre...

Bikram Yoga & a Back Injury

Bikram yoga is a style of yoga developed by yogi Bikram Choudhury that is practiced indoors in a room heated to 105 degrees. There is a series of 26 postures, several of which are advanced. Although the heat is designed to warm...

Yoga Postures for Pregnant Women

Pregnancy is a happy and joyful time in a woman's life, but it can bring anxiety and discomforts. Women experience physical, mental and emotional changes during the time of pregnancy. Yoga can help a woman with the changes sh...

A Description of Bhakti Vinyasa

Bhatki vinyasa yoga is a form of yoga teaching that emphasizes worship of the Divine. Although not explicitly religious, it is a highly spiritual form of yoga. As the website of Yogi Way, a yoga studio in Seattle, says about bh...

Injured Back Doing Bikram Yoga

The extreme heat of a Bikram yoga class is designed to help avoid injuries by keeping your muscles warm and limber. But whether you stretched too far or slipped out of a pose because of sweaty limbs, accidents can happen. Some ...

Yoga Moves for Losing Leg Fat

Yoga is a relaxing and strengthening practice that can improve your physical fitness and tone your muscles. Losing leg fat requires more than just strength exercises -- you also must monitor your calories and engage in aerobic ...

The Difficulty of Bikram Yoga

Hot yoga, a style popularized by creator Bikram Choudhury, is known for its super-heated environment and sweaty, flexible participants. But that doesn't mean it has to be hard; yoga is designed to be practiced at many different...

Yoga for Dudes

The gender barriers are slowly crumbling, but mention the word yoga to some guys and they visibly blanch. Random visions of pink tutus and giggling women make the manliest of men run for a sweaty gym. But what they may not real...

Yoga Postures for Migraines

Migraines are severe headaches often accompanied by throbbing pain on only one side of your head, sensitivity to light and sound, and nausea or vomiting. The National Headache Foundation lists yoga as a potential alternative th...

Yoga for Fat Legs

As our lifestyles become increasingly sedentary, more people are turning to yoga as a way of getting fit. Running, jump-roping, aerobic lunges and other high impact exercises risk injury to the bones and muscles in your legs. P...

Yoga Workout on the Floor

yoga is a mind-body practice that helps you relax, strengthens your muscles and increases flexibility. Although a traditional yoga routine typically includes standing poses, you can do your entire yoga workout on the floor. A 6...

Bikram Yoga & the Parathyroid

The four tiny parathyroid glands, behind the butterfly-shaped thyroid gland near your trachea, produce parathyroid hormone to regulate blood calcium and phosphorous levels. In Bikram yoga theory, poses that stretch or compress ...

Yoga Asana for Menopause

yoga can ease the transition through menopause and alleviate many of its uncomfortable symptoms. yoga breathing through hot flashes settles the anxiety that can trigger or exacerbate them. Kapalabhati, rapid yoga breathing that...

How to Do Yoga for Weight Loss

yoga practice sculpts your body by toning, elongating and strengthening muscles, according to the "yoga Journal." Whether or not yoga results in weight loss depends on your overall strategy. yoga is designed to promote relaxati...

Yoga & Meditation Classes

A busy life can make you feel rushed to complete one task after another without leaving time for relaxing, strengthening and balancing your body and mind. MayoClinic.com reports that yoga and meditation can teach you how to cre...

Yoga Breathing Names

Yogic breathing is called pranayama, or "control of breath." It is used both during yoga and meditation to achieve different goals, such as relaxation, cleansing or awakening. You can practice pranayama in any position, as long...

Types of Yoga Styles

Although many types of different styles exist, all yoga practices emphasize the union of the body, mind and emotions. The wide range of variations allows for diversity of physical and mental intensity, making yoga an ideal exer...

PVC Yoga Mat Safety

A Yoga mat is a basic piece of practice gear. You have your own or you use one at the studio. But your Yoga mat may be the least healthy part of your practice. Yoga Journal estimates that people spend nearly $6 billion a year o...

What Are the Benefits of Kundalini Yoga?

Kundalini Yoga developed in the eighth century as a spiritual practice to awaken the serpent energy, or kundalini, you have coiled at the base of your spine. Only if you activate this force can you grow into a spiritually aware...

Types of Yoga & Vinyasa

Yoga practitioners appreciate both the physical and psychological benefits of the ancient health practice. Improved fitness, lower blood pressure, relaxation, self-confidence, flexibility and better sleep habits are just a few ...

Bikram Yoga Postures Explained

Bikram yoga includes 26 postures performed in a specified sequence developed by Bikram Choudhury, who trademarked his series in 2003. Each posture, or pose, stimulates muscles and organs to create balanced health, explains Chou...

Evening Yoga Poses to Promote Weight Loss

A focused and gentle evening Yoga program relaxes the body and stills the mind, while still working and stretching the muscles. Yoga is one way to get more sleep---and reach your weight-loss goals. Test subjects in clinical stu...

How to Breathe for Yoga Poses

Your Yoga practice and your goal for that given session determine how you breathe, says Claudia Cummins in her Yoga Journal article "Breathing for Relaxation." The breath work you do in Yoga is referred to as Pranayama, a compo...

Fixing Your Posture Through Yoga Poses

Fixing your posture takes body awareness and determination. MayoClinic.com recommends that you do a combination of core exercises and stretching. The ancient exercise of yoga includes numerous poses, or asanas, which help your ...

Yoga Training Programs

yoga training programs can help beginners who have never taken a yoga class learn the principles and movements of the practice and aid continuing students in improving and honing their skills. yoga training programs also exist ...

Types of Yoga for Weight Loss

When searching for types of Yoga for weight loss, keep your mind open to the possibility that gentle styles can also have a powerful effect on your weight. Dr. Baxter Bell, a contributing writer for "Yoga Journal" magazine, sha...

Three Different Types of Yoga

yoga combines breathing, meditation and controlled asanas or postures to relieve stress and develop physical discipline. Certain forms of yoga can also provide weight-loss benefits. Practitioners follow variations of yoga pract...

Comparison of Yoga Types

Many types of yoga practice exist, so take into account your goals, personal exercise preferences, physical limitations and experience before stepping foot into a classroom. The best way to determine which practice is for you i...

Types of Yoga Practices

Not only does Yoga improve physical fitness and flexibility, but it also might help reduce stress and anxiety, according to MayoClinic.com. Yoga practices typically include postures, which build strength and flexibility, and br...

Cross-Training With Bikram Yoga

Cross-training with bikram --- or hot --- yoga delivers an array of benefits. It builds core strength and loosens leg muscles that may have become tight, or out of balance, from running. Cross-training with bikram also helps bu...

Bikram Yoga Withdrawal

Bikram yoga, also known as hot yoga, is a challenging set of 26 yogic postures and two breathing exercises practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit for 90 minutes. Those who have a regular practice may claim they go...

The Recommended Prenatal Yoga DVDs

... the organization recommends starting off with a light yet brisk walking program. As your fitness levels improve incorporate other forms of light exercise including swimming, stationary bicycling and yoga.

Is Yoga a Relaxation & Fitness Class?

There are many misconceptions about what Yoga actually is and is not. There are hundreds of styles of Yoga ranging from very gentle classes to extremely vigorous. Yoga can be used as a form of meditation, it can help you get in...

Yoga in Hot Temperatures

yoga practiced in hot temperatures is officially named Bikram yoga, but is sometimes known as hot yoga. Bikram yoga was started by Bikram Choudhury, a man who studied yoga in India and started his own system. Choudhury claims t...

What Are the Health Benefits of Kundalini?

Kundalini can literally be translated as "the curl of the lock of hair of the beloved" in Sanskrit. This refers to the belief that kundalini yoga helps to uncoil the energy from the base of the spine. Kundalini enthusiasts beli...

Can You Do Bikram Yoga at Home?

Bikram yoga, sometimes nicknamed hot yoga, was founded by Bikram Choudhury in Calcutta, India. He believes that performing yoga postures in a hot and humid room is the optimal condition for the best performance of the asanas. T...

History of Yogi Bhajan & Kundalini Yoga

...dalini comes from the word kundal, which means "lock of hair from the beloved." The uncoiling of this hair is said to awaken a powerful energy that exists in every human known as kundalini. Kundalini yoga uses poses, breathi...

Prenatal Yoga Retreats

Taught with an emphasis on mindfulness for increasing body awareness and breath, prenatal yoga enables pregnant women with skills needed for reducing pain in labor and promoting prenatal bonding and deep relaxation. Prenatal y...

Can I Learn Ashtanga Yoga Through a Video?

There are many reasons to practice ashtanga yoga through a video. Perhaps you are too busy to regularly attend classes or you might live in an area where ashtanga yoga classes are not offered. While it is possible to learn some...

Itchy From Hot Yoga

Hot yoga, also known as Bikram yoga, is practiced in studios across the country that are as hot as 105 degrees Fahrenheit. The practice is meant to loosen your muscles for a deeper and more intensive stretch. Not for beginners,...

Kundalini & Neurology

If you've ever seen or participated in a kundalini yoga session, it is obvious the ties the sessions have to the spine and, therefore, the nervous system. Kundalini yoga involves intense movement and manipulations of the spine ...

Bikram Yoga & Breastfeeding

Bikram yoga is a series of 26 hatha yoga postures developed by yogi Bikram Choudhury. It is designed to be performed in a room heated anywhere from 80 to 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Bikram adherents claim that the high temperature ...

Spin® & Yoga Training Certification

...ss, you focus on your breath as you pedal faster and faster, turning up the resistance and quickening your heartbeat for an energizing cardiovascular workout. When you follow it up by stretching into yoga poses, called asana...

Sequence of Postures for Bikram Yoga

Bikram yoga classes include a trademarked sequence of 26 yoga postures performed in a room heated to 105 degrees. Typical 90-minute classes include two cycles of the sequence, although shortened classes may include a single cyc...

How to Tell the Benefits of Yoga

People take up yoga for a variety of reasons. Some people are just plain intrigued. They want to see what all the buzz and bother is about. Others desire to become more balanced physically and mentally. Fitness enthusiasts will...

Anusara-Inspired Yoga Training

An Anusara-inspired yoga teacher has trained in teaching Anusara yoga but has not received Anusara yoga certification. In order to be classified as Anusara-inspired, a yoga teacher must meet the requirements presented by Anusar...

Carl Jung and Kundalini Yoga

The Swiss Psychiatrist Carl Jung and the Indian philosophy of Kundalini energy and yoga may seem like disparate topics but there is a connection. The existence of Kundalini energy is an ancient belief, but it was one that had l...

Yoga to Thin Your Legs

yoga can help you slim your entire body, including your legs. yoga provides aerobic exercise to burn calories, as well as resistance training, to build muscle and burn fat. A consideration is that calming yoga burns fewer calor...

How Long to Hold Bikram Yoga Poses

Bikram yoga involves a series of 26 postures that are always performed in the same sequence in a heated room. The combination of poses serves to improve every vital system of the body -- cardiovascular, respiratory and digestiv...

Free Sivananda Yoga Workouts

Sivananda is a style of yoga founded by Swami Vishnudevananda and named for his teacher. Sivananda yoga, introduced to the West in the 1950s, emphasizes physical, mental and spiritual wellness with five principles: proper asana...

The Types of Foam Used for Yoga Mats

Yoga is an ideal way to train your body to relax and flex, and to strengthen your core. Many poses are made more comfortable by using a mat, as well as saving the back, knee, and hips from pressing against the floor for too lon...

Yoga Postures That Are Good for Calves

Yoga relieves stress and tension in your whole body. Its concentrated breathing helps center you while its poses stretch out taught muscles. Concentrating on certain poses that focus on a specific area, such as your calves, can...

What to Expect From Kundalini Yoga

While many yoga forms have commonalities, such as a focus on breath and flexibility, some differences exist among various practices. Kundalini yoga is a yoga practice that has deep historical roots, yet is credited with practic...

Bikram Yoga & Neck Pain

While yoga practices may provide therapy for neck pain and other discomforts, some students find themselves injured rather than healed as a result of their efforts. Close to 5,000 people in the United States visited an emergenc...

Nose Breathing and Yoga

Pranayama, the art of breath control in yoga, may have been developed more than 3,500 years ago, according to yoga instructor Richard Rosen in his book, "Pranayama Beyond the Fundamentals: An In-Depth Guide to Yogic Breathing."...

Kathalu and Types of Yoga

The word yoga means "to yoke or unite." The purpose of yoga is to unite your mind and body in an effort to achieve enlightenment. Though yoga is often characterized by movements and postures known as asanas, not all types of yo...

What Is Kemetic Yoga?

Kemetic yoga dates back 10,000 years as a practice in ancient Egypt, which was then known as Kemet. The word "yoga" is Sanskrit, meaning to yoke or bind, and is of Indian origin. Kemetic yoga is similar to the popular forms of ...