Hot yoga is a generic term that may refer to any type of yoga practiced in a heated environment.
The theory behind hot yoga is that it helps the body to sweat out toxins while allowing the practitioner to safely come deeper intoasanas (poses or stretches).
The room temperature for a hot yoga class can range from 30˚ to 50˚ C (85˚ to 122˚ F).Humidity can range from 40% to 60%.
Different methods draw from Hatha, Vinyasa, and other yoga styles.
Though the Bikram style was a pioneering force, it is not the only style of hot yoga.
Common styles of hot yoga include:
Bikram Yoga, Power Yoga and TriBalance Yoga
What is Bikram Yoga?
Living yoga master BikramChoudhury is a Hot Yoga innovator. His method of Hot Yoga is a set series of 26 yoga poses, including two pranayamaexercises, each of which is performed twice in a single 90 minute class.
Choudhury, who was born in Calcutta, India in 1946, founded the Yoga College of India in Beverly Hills in 1974. He and his wife Rajashree were both yoga champions in India.
Recently, Choudhury was involved in a lawsuit over his attempt to copyright his series of 26 poses done in a hot room. At the heart of the controversy is Choudhury's desire to prevent anyone teaching yoga in a heated room from calling their class "Bikram Yoga". He would like to reserve this title only for those teachers who are certified by his Yoga College of India and who stick to his prescribed method exactly (including not only the temperature of the room and order of poses, but also the carpet and mirrors in the room, and his approved text). The lawsuit was resolved with an out-of-court settlement in which Choudhury agreed not to sue the members of a San Francisco-based collective of Hot Yoga teachers and they agreed not to use the Bikram name. Bikram remains a very controversial figure in the yoga world.
What is Power Yoga?
Power yoga is a general term used in the West to describe a vigorous, fitness-based approach tovinyasa-styleyoga. Most power yoga is closely modeled on theAshtangastyle of practice. The term "power yoga" came into common usage in the mid 1990s, when several yoga teachers were looking for a way to make Ashtanga yoga more accessible to western students. Unlike Ashtanga, power yoga does not follow a set series of poses.
Therefore, any power yoga class can vary widely from the next. What they have in common is an emphasis on strength and flexibility. The advent of power yoga heralded yoga's current popularity, as people began to see yoga as a way to work out. Power yoga brought yoga into the gyms of America.
Two American yoga teachers are most often credited with the near simultaneous invention of power yoga: Beryl Bender Birch, based in New York, and Bryan Kest, based in Los Angeles. Not coincidentally, both these teachers had studied with Ashtanga master Sri K. PattabhiJois. Using the term power yoga differentiated the intense, flowing style of yoga they were teaching from the gentle stretching and meditation that many Americans associated with yoga. Another name often associated with power yoga is Baron Baptiste. Baptiste has his own method, which is only taught by teachers he certifies.
What is TriBalance Yoga
TriBalance Yoga is a hot yoga style based on the principles of therapuetic yoga, strength training, and tapas.
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