Why I love the Bikram Method

The first time you do the twenty-six postures which cover a normal range of motion for just about anybody, they act as a diagnostic tool. Even People with minimal body awareness are able to diagnose their own problem areas. Then with practice those same postures become therapeutic tools that re-educate your body and heightens the efficiency of its major systems.

Like any well chosen yoga program, Bikram Yoga is intended to tone the endocrine, lymphatic, and digestive systems, increase capillary blood flow and produce a strong, limber and comfortable musculoskeletal system. To attain the benefits of this series, though, the sequence of the postures.

The first 45 minutes of the Bikram Yoga System consists of standing poses devoted to re-establishing musculo-skeletal balance.  If done with sufficient intensity, they create an aerobic benefit as well.

The second half of the class consists of floor postures that address your spine and it’s correct alignment, and many of your internal organs and joints.

People ask me if I ever get tired of doing the same sequence of postures.  My answer is that the practice is never the same because I am continuously being changed by the practice, and by life. Every time you step onto your mat, you are physically, mentally and emotionally different and the daily practice challenges you on many levels. Concentration and attention are quickly sharpened. Character issues of patience and perseverance come up each time.  The practice offers a chance to explore deeper levels of Self and develop awareness of the emotions and thoughts that the postures evoke.

Frequency… precision… and intensity… these are three things that will unlock the treasures of Bikram yoga. Trust in the process, and the discipline will pay off, it truly does integrate and treat the mind and body as one, which, for me has been the most nourishing tool in my day-to-day life.

-Kate Lillian Burford-