MANILA, Philippines—Despite the many who find practicing in a hot room with other sweaty people repulsive, there is a growing number who swear by Bikram Yoga.

Why is Bikram yoga one of the more popular forms in the US and growing in Europe and Asia? Manila has its growing pocket of Bikram enthusiasts who report weight loss, years of body pain gone after a few months, blood pressure and blood sugar levels back to normal, increased flexibility, leaner body and a generally happier outlook.

Bikram yoga is a style of hatha yoga—exercise yoga—developed by Bikram Choudhury more than 35 years ago. It is a challenging yoga sequence composed of 26 set postures, including two breathing exercises. Each posture is done twice over a 90-minute period in a heated room with temperatures kept at 36ºC and an average humidity of 60 percent.

A usual question is, why the heat? Heat makes the muscles more pliant, allowing for a safer, more fluid-like stretch and greater range of motion. The heat expedites the flow of blood to all the organs, facilitating the reactions the postures are designed to create.

The sequence of postures is designed to warm up and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons in the order in which they should be stretched. This sequence, taught in the same manner the world over, systematically moves fresh, oxygenated blood to 100 percent of your body, working to restore all systems to a healthy working order. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and sense of well-being are only some of the benefits.

Bikram yoga is for all ages, from 13 to 103, and for all body types. But don’t be fooled by the calm manner in which people move from posture to posture.

Bikram yoga is a rigorous workout that can give even the most muscular of jocks a run for their money, while being gentle enough for the most senior of citizens. This is why it is very important to focus and be aware of how your body feels through each minute of class.

The first 45 minutes of a Bikram yoga class consists of standing poses devoted to reestablishing musculo-skeletal balance. Practitioners tend to discover that one side of the body is stronger than the other, or that they are more flexible and balanced on one side. With time and work, Bikram yoga can lessen the misalignment of the muscles and thus lessen some associated pain.

The second half of the class consists of floor postures that address “the great information superhighway”—your spine and its correct alignment. Most people recognize their spinal problems during their first Bikram yoga class.

Preparing for class

First, find a legitimate Bikram studio that is convenient. If it is not on the main Bikram website maintained by the headquarters in Los Angeles (www.bikramyoga.com under “Class Finder”), the studio might not be authorized.

Call up the studio, ask about schedule, rates and teachers. You must be comfortable practicing in that studio. If you have a severe ailment (heart disease), consult your doctor before jumping into a class.

Come to class on a relatively empty stomach. A banana an hour and a half before class is okay. Also, hydrate well before and after class. This means drink as much water as you can up to an hour before class. That way, you have time to go to the bathroom before class and you won’t have to leave the room during class (which disturbs you and those around you).

After class, top up on your liquids again and make sure you replenish your electrolytes through your choice of drinks and food.

Bring a yoga mat, a huge bath towel to put on the mat, a second towel to shower after, a change of clothes, your toiletries and a plastic bag to put your dirty clothes from class. If you don’t have a mat, the studio could have it for rent.

Finally, plan your time well. For your first class, consider the traffic, be in the studio 30 minutes before class to give yourself time to register, change and talk to the teacher.

Open mind

Come to class with an open mind. Many first-timers come not wanting to look stupid or do something wrong. Understand that everyone in class remembers what it was like to be a first-timer: Uncoordinated, they didn’t know what to do and they likely had to stop because they felt a bit lightheaded. Everyone can empathize because one has been there.

Besides, a yoga class is no competition. It’s about becoming more aware of yourself, in mind and in body. Nobody has time to look at you anyway. The teacher keeps everyone busy!

So focus on what you must do—listen to the teacher and do the best you can.

With each class you attend, you will become more aware of your body and how it moves with each posture. Your muscles will ache for a few classes—part of your learning. If your lifestyle of many years hasn’t allowed you to use your muscles, you can’t expect them to comply after just a few classes.

You will also listen more to the teacher—because you are not focused on how hot it is anymore—and you follow all the instructions word by word. Developing self-awareness and focus is one of the things we all strive for.

Conscious breathing

In a Bikram class, breathing is the first thing to focus on, not postures. Breathing properly and being able to control the energy that breathing brings is at the core of Bikram practice. Understanding how to consistently breathe slowly and deeply in class is the big prize for yoga practitioners; that’s how they manage stress.

The challenge of the postures and posed by the heat in the room usually leads first-timers to struggle in executing the postures or, worse, hold their breath. When a student panics, breathing tends to quicken and too much oxygen reaches the brain.

These extreme ends produce the same result: dizziness, light headedness and maybe nausea.

The key to being in control is to have a calm, even breath throughout. Not just in between the postures, but especially during the postures. Where first-timers tend to hold their breath, even those who have been practicing for only a month already understand that they need to breathe as best they can as the posture is being held.

This not only keeps the flow of oxygen into the body constant, allowing you to hold the posture, but will also guide you into a deeper expression of the posture. Be warned: Just because you read it here doesn’t mean it will come to you automatically in class.

Breathing in this way is a learned habit. It needs the discipline of going to class over the next few months—years for others!—to learn how to breathe properly.

Life lessons

Yoga becomes a more powerful tool in life when you can use what you learn in class and apply it. The hot room, difficult postures, your sweaty neighbors or the teacher who holds the postures too long might take away your focus or sense of calm.

In everyday life, it is the traffic, a colleague at work, a circumstance at home, or something that didn’t go your way that could rob you of your peace. We learn the habit of responding with a calm, even breath. It’s a potent tool against stress and tension.

Send questions to bikramyogamanila@yahoo.com or visit www.bikramyogamanila.com