What to expect from Bikram Yoga

Welcome to Bikram Yoga Kelowna. So you’ve decided to finally try Bikram Hot Yoga and see what all the fuss is about? As a new student to Bikram Yoga you deserve the best possible start to your yoga journey, so read this information at your leisure. It will answer most of the questions that you may have.

New students can drop-in to any class on the schedule. The new student fee is $20.00. This gives you two classes within five days.

Bikram’s Beginner Yoga is a preventive, therapeutic and healing yoga developed over 30 years ago. It is scientifically designed to systematically address every part of your body through its 26 carefully formulated postures over 90 minutes, developed for beginners while still challenging for advanced students.

We always hold our Bikram Yoga Classes in a room heated to body temperature.The heat allows for greater flexibility, it minimizes muscle strain, lactic acid build up, reduces the chance of injury, allows for greater cleansing of the body and builds tremendous stamina and endurance.

The benefits of the Bikram series are felt right after your first class - something to look forward to!

Before coming to your first class

New students please arrive 20 minutes early for registration and orientation. If you wish to save time by pre-filling out your registration form, you can print it here, fill it out and bring it along with you!

• Make sure you drink plenty of water before (and after class).
• It is best to minimize eating before class to light meals about 2-3 hours before yoga.

You'll need to bring to class...

• New students get the use of a mat with our Introductory special
• After  that, you can purchase or rent Yoga mats at the studio. The mats are uniquely made especially for yoga - they are sticky and not too thick, so balance is more firm - but not so thin they are uncomfortable on the floor!
• Or you may rent one of our  mats for $2/class.
• Your own LARGE towel to place on your mat (and one to shower after if you wish to use our well-equipped change rooms).
• A sipper water bottle / sports bottle. You can also purchase water at the studio.
•  Wear shorts witha sleeveless tops. T shirt sleeves get in the way.

On arrival

Please remove your shoes on entry! It is your studio for everyone to use and we want to keep it clean and fresh for all.

You'll need to complete a Kelowna Bikram Yoga registration form and sign in, plus receive an orientation by one of our instructors and inform us of any injuries or medication we should be aware of.

No valuables are to be brought into the yoga room itself - this helps us all minimize any connection to the outside world and keeps the space clean, uncluttered and ready for a strong yoga practice.

The only items you should take into the studio are your mat, your towel(s), your water and you!

During class

• Place your mat so that you can stand and see yourself in the mirror. Once your class starts, yoga is practiced in silence. Breathing, concentration, focus and stillness are core skills of a strong yoga practice. Using mirrors will greatly help you build the connection between mind and body, focus, balance and posture.
• No water is taken until after the third posture (Eagle/Garurasana). After this you may drink throughout the class. Avoid gulping and drink only small amounts to help you maintain posture comfort. Please only drink in between postures to minimize distraction.
• Remember to hydrate yourself well before and after class and try to avoid eating 2-3 hours before class.
• You are likely to sweat during your yoga class. Let the sweat run off and try not to continually wipe the sweat off yourself. It is a cooling mechanism.
• Please no talking in class.
• If you need too, please feel free to stop for a moment. Calm your breath and heart rate at first by standing still, looking at yourself in the mirror and inhaling/exhaling through your nose. If you really have to sit down or lie down ,please do. Always breathe through your nose, mouth closed.
• This is a yoga class not a competition! Because of the structure of the class – we do a posture and then we rest and then do another posture – most people find it challenging yet easy to get through the class by taking it one posture at a time.
• Everyone’s ability in each posture may be different. You are guaranteed to get the benefits of Bikram Yoga by doing the best you can in each posture: respond to the instructions, concentrate on alignment and work to your level of discomfort and never pain!
• Keep the integrity of the room by:
• Keeping silent during class
• following the instructions of the teacher
• Minimizing your rest-time movement – just breathe, be still, stand with toes and heels together and look at yourself, one point in the mirror
• Concentrate on your breathing … and your practice will progress before you know it.

Immediately after class

• Stay in the yoga room in the final relaxation pose (savasana) for as long as you need to cool down and allow your breathing and heart rate to return to normal - this helps to integrate all the great work you have completed in the last 90mins.
• Feel free to shower and change in the purpose built change rooms.
• We always have a time for students. We have a lounge where you can cool down after class with a refreshing cup of tea! Time to mingle, pick up tips, meet new yogi friends - or just enjoy the rush of endorphins through your body!

The next day/few days

Reactions the next day are varied - should you feel a little stiff then getting back into the yoga room with the heat and stretching is the cure. And try a hot bath or spa with Epsom Salts - mmmmm! It's best to get at least three classes into your first week - your mind will quickly overcome the challenge of the heated room, get to know the postures and you'll be ready to yoga! You'll also start noticing the benefits IMMEDIATELY - we have some truly wonderful stories from many many students.

Over the next 10 days, your body will acclimatize to exercising in the heated room and you'll be noticing great changes in your flexibility, ability to stretch out necks, arms, legs - and your whole attitude will just seem to lighten up several notches. Friends and family start to notice that 'yoga glow' in your skin - without you saying a thing!

And remember - this is your journey, no-one else's - and this is your first class, the postures and heat may seem strange. Stick with it.

As Bikram says - It is better to have 90 minutes of hell each day for a lifetime of heaven.

Frequently asked questions

What are the benefits of Bikram Yoga?

There is much evidence both scientific and anecdotal to support the benefits of practising yoga on a regular basis. Problems of alignment, rheumatoid and osteoarthritis, diabetes, heart disease, asthma, insomnia, high and low blood pressure, and so many other medical problems have shown much improvement with a regular practice.

Some of the benefits include:

• Expands your capacity to breathe deeply and fully
• Prevents injury and may prevent or improve chronic illness
• Promotes better sleep, you may even need to sleep less
• Fabulous body toning effects
• Weight loss or gain depending on your body’s needs
• Improvement in posture and body awareness
• Improve the healing and regenerative powers of your body
• Improvement in T cell function and your immune system
• Improvement in your lymphatic system
• Lengthening and strengthening of muscles
• Increased flexibility
• Improvement in peripheral circulation
• Improvement in metabolism / digestion
• Gives the body a cardiovascular workout without negative impacting forces
• Nervous system is exercised
• Endocrine and exocrine glands are massaged and stimulated to better function
• Muscular and skeletal network are enhanced
• Weight bearing exercise will help prevent osteoporosis
• Works every organ, gland, nerve, tendon, ligament and muscle in the whole body every Bikram Yoga session
• Improves heart and lung function
• Improves back conditions of pain and misalignment
• Improves flexibility of your spine in its range of motion in all directions allowing the improvement in function of your central nervous system.
• Better nervous system communication means a better functioning body and mind
• Helps cultivate a sense of well being and a more peaceful mind
• Integration of both sides of the brain to improve memory, learning, body coordination and balance
• Builds mental strength and teaches you to hold your mind in a focused and meditative state

Why is the room heated?

If you think about it, it makes sense. To best benefit from any exercise program we should always warm our bodies up and at the end warm down. The temperature of the yoga room is similar to our body’s own temperature. This facilitates faster improvement in many of the benefits resulting from your yoga practice. Just think of it as a hot day. Or better still, if you have been used to exercising you will recognize that the best feelings come when you are at the peak of your exercise and your body has had enough time to generate the warmth from the inside radiating it out to all of your muscles.

Why do we need to sweat?

The moisture in the air is the reason you will probably sweat quite a lot. We have experimented with different levels of heat and moisture and have found that it is the increased moisture in the air that is more likely to make you sweat! Many confuse this with the actual temperature. The more people in the room, the more moisture from our breath, the more we sweat. Our room is thermostatically controlled so the temperature never gets too high. Experts agree that the moisture level for optimal lung function for protection against colds, flu and other respiratory problems such as asthma is around the 60-70% mark. So enjoy the sweat! It is doing you so much good on so many different levels!

What are the benefits of the heat?

When the room is heated we are able to get into our postures more deeply and more effectively and therefore the benefits of the postures come more quickly. You will find like countless thousands who have come to this yoga before you, that it is a satisfying and almost addictive feeling of achievement to be in the warm room. The benefits number many:

• Your body burns fat more effectively, fat may be redistributed and burned as energy during the class. It is very common to lose centimeters of shape in a very small period of time
• The warm temperature produces a fluid like stretch allowing for greater range of movement in joints, muscles, ligaments and other supporting structures of the body
• Capillaries dilate in the heat; more effectively oxygenating the tissues, muscles, glands and organs and also helps in the removal of waste products
• Your peripheral circulation improves due to enhanced perfusion of your extremities
• Your metabolism speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids
• You benefit from a strengthening of willpower, self control, concentration and determination in this challenging environment
• Your cardiovascular system gets a thorough work out
• Your muscles and connective tissue become more elastic and allow for greater flexibility with much less chance of injury and increased chance of injury resolution
• Promotes sweating and detoxification and elimination through the skin which is the body’s largest eliminating organ
• Just as when your body raises its temperature to fight infection, the raised temperature in the room will assist in improving T cell function and the proper functioning of your immune system
• Your nervous system function is greatly improved and messages are carried more efficiently to and from your brain and spinal cord
• It improves your metabolism in the digestive system and in the body’s cells (that is food in the gut and nutrients in the cells).

What if I am not flexible?

This is the most common misconception which prevents many people from starting yoga. Yoga is not about how flexible you are, but about strengthening your body and spine in all directions. All that matters is that you try the right way – you will get 100% of the benefits. Yoga stresses the importance of strengthening your mind and body. With regular practice you will see great improvements in your concentration and flexibility.

Back to top