New and beginning students.....
Are welcome and encouraged in all our classes. If you've always wanted to try Yoga, now's your chance. Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class is designed for all people regardless of physical ability. All classes are 90 minutes and practiced in a hot room.
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How Does it Work?
The postures work together in sequence to restore natural range of motion to the body, heal old injuries, and calm the mind. Practicing Yoga in the hot room accelerates progress while diminishing the chance for injury as a warm body is supple and pliable. The heat helps you sweat and cleanse the body. Deep breathing delivers high-speed, oxygenated blood to every muscle and organ. Bikram Yoga is much more than an exercise class. Each class is a 90 minute meditation of body, mind, and breath. Fitness is a natural result of this meditation. This process, through the healing technique of the postures, provides a whole body therapy that leaves you feeling absolutely amazing. Learn more about Bikram Yoga and the benefits here. |
How to prepare for your first class
- No large meals at least 2 hours before class. Practicing Yoga on a full stomach is super uncomfortable.
- Arrive hydrated, prepared to sweat.
- Yoga is a process that can start at and work through any stage of life. Find focus on yourself and be inspired by the group energy. Please rest when you need to, find inspiration, then try some more. With time you'll be doing the postures with strength, ease, balance, and flexibility no matter your starting point.
- Arrive on time. Please arrive at least 15 minute before your first class to meet the teacher, register, and get setup in the Yoga room. To provide a secure space and to stay on time with our teaching, doors to the studio are locked at the posted class times and late attendance is not permitted. Similarly, please attend class only when you are capable of staying the entire 90 minutes. This will give you a complete practice, and even a few minutes of blissful stillness at the end of an amazing class.
What to bring, what to wear
We provide a Yoga mat and towel for your first class when you buy our introductory offer. Wear clothes that you can sweat in. Long pants / long sleeves trap body heat and restrict movement. We recommend guys go shirtless and girls wear tank tops and shorts. In the end, wear whatever makes you feel comfortable to practice in the hot room.
Why the heat?
- Heat warms the muscles, allowing for deeper stretching with a reduced chance for injury. It is also much easier to correct misalignments in the body if it is warm and flexible. The body is like steel: you can’t bend it unless it is hot. Then, you can shape it however you want.
- Warm muscles burn fat more efficiently
- The heat and the intensity of the postures promote sweating. As a result, your body undergoes an incredible detoxification, releasing impurities through the largest eliminative organ you have - your skin
- Heat causes capillaries to dilate, increasing oxygen flow to cells and promoting waste removal
- Practicing in a heated room increases the heart rate for a strong cardiovascular workout
I'm not a Yoga person, will I look like a total dork?
No! Yoga is beneficial long before it's pretty. Most people start out inflexible or have a chronic symptom they're looking to relieve. Everyone is way too focused on themselves to pay any attention to what you're doing. Our teachers will instruct you exactly how to do the whole class. There are usually several new people every class, so you'll be in good company.
I'm a guy, can I do Yoga?
While we have lots of wonderful, powerful women who attend our classes, men find the benefits (and challenge) of Bikram Yoga particularly great. If you're looking for an awesome way to take care of yourself after sitting behind a desk or on the couch, this is the place for you. If you have run, lifted, played sports, and now find that your body doesn't cooperate as you'd like it, Yoga can restore and re-energize your body. If you have an active, fit lifestyle, Yoga will keep your body doing the activities you enjoy longer, with a diminished chance for injury. The cardiovascular effect, benefit for the knees and joints, along with the sweat will give you fellas a workout like you've never had before.
How often should I practice?
Bikram Yoga is designed for daily practice and works best when practiced consistently. Whether it's once a week, or 6 days a week, consistently, and you'll see improvement. We encourage attendance of three classes a week or more. Some students practice 6 days a week and even do double classes. Other students are more casual, coming right when they need it. Either way, the Yoga will work if practiced regularly.
I'm inflexible, overweight, have chronic pain. Will Yoga help me?
Yoga relies very little, if any, upon natural ability. Rather, the effort and intention you put into your practice will determine the results you achieve.
Often, when potential students hear 'Yoga' they imagine a dancer or ballerina doing a crazy pretzel shaped posture. This impression intimidates many people from trying Yoga. While ballerinas, Olympic athletes, and other super-fit people practice Bikram Yoga and derive tremendous benefit, it's not exclusive to those finely tuned bodies. In fact, if you can list a number of reasons why you 'can't' do Yoga you're likely to receive the most benefit from a regular practice.
If you have a chronic injury, or are very overweight, we recommend practicing 5-6 days a week for several months. If you can commit to a consistent practice at this high level of frequency for the first few months, the transformation you will see is truly life-changing.
Frequency + precision + intensity = results
If you have any questions about how Yoga can help please contact us here.
Often, when potential students hear 'Yoga' they imagine a dancer or ballerina doing a crazy pretzel shaped posture. This impression intimidates many people from trying Yoga. While ballerinas, Olympic athletes, and other super-fit people practice Bikram Yoga and derive tremendous benefit, it's not exclusive to those finely tuned bodies. In fact, if you can list a number of reasons why you 'can't' do Yoga you're likely to receive the most benefit from a regular practice.
If you have a chronic injury, or are very overweight, we recommend practicing 5-6 days a week for several months. If you can commit to a consistent practice at this high level of frequency for the first few months, the transformation you will see is truly life-changing.
Frequency + precision + intensity = results
If you have any questions about how Yoga can help please contact us here.
When are your most & least crowded classes?
We love busy classes, of course, as the group energy is contagious! New students often ask when is it less crowded as they want more attention than a packed class can provide. Currently, our least attended classes are any of the AM weekday classes. Remember, the worst class is the one you don't attend. Please find a time that works for your schedule and without excuses, show up ready for an awesome class. If we sell-out a class, any overflow students will receive a complimentary class for their next visit.
Why are there lines on the Yoga room floor?
We use the lines in several ways. During busy classes the lines keep everyone organized while giving the teacher a good view of everyone in the room. You can use the lines while practicing to develop good alignment while holding as a place of center to return during class. Setup your mat so the lines run through the middle of your mat and towel - staggering the placement so everyone in the room has a good line of sight into the mirrors.
How hot is it?
Bikram rooms are set to 105 degrees and 40% humidity. We find this (or even slightly hotter) the ideal climate for practice.
A couple notes about our heating system:
-We use 4 sensors to that work together to average the temperature for even heat distribution through our spiral duct system
-The heater we use is an efficient gas furnace that constantly delivers fresh outside air into the Yoga room
-Two huge ceiling fans are used to additionally circulate air through the Yoga room
The Boiler House hot room has a unique sense of breath and circulation that feels wonderful to practice in.
A couple notes about our heating system:
-We use 4 sensors to that work together to average the temperature for even heat distribution through our spiral duct system
-The heater we use is an efficient gas furnace that constantly delivers fresh outside air into the Yoga room
-Two huge ceiling fans are used to additionally circulate air through the Yoga room
The Boiler House hot room has a unique sense of breath and circulation that feels wonderful to practice in.
How much will I sweat?
A lot.
I'm nervous about the heat!
You're not alone. The heat is definitely something that takes getting used to. First on a physical level (getting the body acclimatized to the environment), then on a psychological level (moving beyond fear and coming to trust and embrace this element of practice). The heat will help you improve faster, more safely. Some look at the heat as a huge challenge. Try to think of the heat as a tool you can use to enhance your practice rather than an obstacle to overcome. By working with the heat, rather than against it, you'll feel much more at ease in your practice.
- To preempt any dizzy, weird feelings in the hot room please arrive hydrated! This will make your class much more enjoyable. Yoga works deep. If there's not enough fluid / mineral concentration in your blood, weird feelings are a natural result. Please do not blame the Yoga if you arrive dehydrated, hungover, with a belly full of burrito and don't feel great during class.
- If you feel overwhelmed please rest on your Yoga mat. Do not abruptly run for the door as this is not safe. If you are overwhelmed, allow yourself to rest for a few minutes before joining in the postures. With time, these sensations will be a memory and you'll feel awesome in the hot room.
How is Bikram Yoga different from regular Yoga?
Bikram Yoga is regular Yoga. Bikram Yoga is traditional Hatha Yoga done in a hot room. In India thousands of years ago they didn't have central heat to make a 'hot' Yoga room, but they did have the natural heat of India--and no air conditioners! The 26 postures we learn in Bikram Yoga come from a larger sequence of 84 postures that date back to the 12th century. Our line of Gurus extends to the Nath sect and Matsyendranath, whom legend states was the first Yogi to practice postures.
Is Yoga spiritual?
Yoga is everything. Yoga is the relationship and connection between all things. Yoga begins with the manifest and illuminates the subtle. Hatha Yoga (physical Yoga) comes from the Sanskrit "Ha" -- sun, masculine, and "Tha" -- moon, feminine. Hatha is the balance between opposite forces that work together to create the physical world we live in. Hatha Yoga is the practice of balancing and merging these physical elements in body and mind to generate a high quality of life. In this merger the foundation is laid for spiritual growth. Bikram puts it like this, "You have a junk body and junk mind, why would your spirit ever want to live in there? Make your mind and body best friends and your spirit, your God, will chase you." Much like spirituality, Yoga is a personal thing. A regular Yoga practice will create the conditions in your body, mind, and life that you may realize and fulfill your own personal spiritual calling: whatever that may be.
Is Bikram Yoga safe for pregnancy?
We follow Rajashree's (Bikram's wife) recommendations on Bikram Yoga and pregnancy:
- Ideally, practice for six months or longer before you are pregnant
- Take the first trimester out of the hot room and practice at home with Rajashree's pregnancy DVD.
- Return to the studio after the first trimester and practice the modified pregnancy series near the door. Come and go as your stamina and body heat / comfort allow.
- When you feel confident and comfortable, practice wherever feels good until delivery
How many calories do you burn in Bikram Yoga?
Anywhere between 600-1100 depending on how hard you work. Here's an article on the subject: http://www.livestrong.com/article/447329-the-average-calories-burned-with-bikram-yoga/
