OK – Is Bikram Yoga REALLY safe/healthy!!!

Hi Janet

Thank you for the detail you posted. You are obviously troubled by this. I think that with a little more investigation we can crack this nut!

A few things came to mind. Can you firstly tell me if there is anything in particular that makes your yoga your own personal torture chamber? It could be your difficulty breathing and then again it could be challenge with particular poses.

I was wondering how much the ‘torture’ and the shallow breathing could be related. Oftentimes we let the achievement of doing the class get the better of us rather than taking each mindful moment one at a time (where you focus on what matters at that instant, in that pose and in your practice). In other words and phrased as a question: Are there times when you are working hard and you notice while in the poses that your breath becomes ragged?

Perhaps you find that your breath is shallow all the time. There could be many reasons for this. I would really like to recommend having a look my video on breathing technique. This at least could be a way to understand the mechanics of your breath. Perhaps it will give you the technical focus which may even relieve your torture! 😉 Take a look at Effective Breathing In Hot Yoga.

Feeling hot all the time: Please Janet, are you feeling hot all the time, or is it just during and immediately following class? Is it at all possible that hormones are at all involved here? It is also possible that when you get your breathing sorted out that your heat problem could disappear.

Unable to sleep: Have you been unable to fall asleep for the entire 3 months of practice or has this developed? Are you practicing at the end of the day? Sometimes if your schedule allows, changing your practice time to earlier in the day can make the difference.

When it comes to stiffness I really don’t think that it is to do with going too many times per week (under normal circumstances). A practice of 3-4 times weekly should be quite ‘comfortable’ to achieve. If your body is aching then it could be to do with your technique in particular poses. There are classic poses which are usually the culprits. For example many students will have their legs apart too wide in Standing Separate Leg Intense Stretch or they will straighten their legs when bending them and focusing on a long straight back will actually be far more satisfying – and MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY open up their bodies and guard against stiffness. The first place to check this out would be a short article I wrote with pictures called Opening Up Your Hamstrings With Hot Yoga. There are plenty of threads on the forum which may also be of interest.

I don’t know how you are going with your technique so I can ask you to tell me, once you have applied the above techniques:
>> Whether they worked for you
>> What poses are now bothering you?

PS while I wrote this xtiinalove’s post came in! Thanks! I agree that it is not possible to link the thyroid issue and the yoga with the limited information we have so far. Although I recognize you are concerned for your friend and as a result wonder whether you are doing the right thing let’s just focus on you.

I think I will leave the Bikram vs regular yoga question out for the time being! There’s already enough for us to ponder here …

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Also, are you getting to class early enough to lie the the room and acclimatize? THIS was super-important for me when I started. Proper hydration before and after class is important, too. As is electrolyte replacement, and you may try taking something like EmergenC in your water bottle for now. And as a vegetarian, you may wish to up your protein to assist in muscle repair, through beans or lentils or tofu…And breathing IS the key. I recall my first few classes where I thought I couldn’t get any AIR in, as if the air had been sucked out of the room. I was burning hot, too. I really had to focus on opening my heart center and making sure my breaths were full, not shallow. THIS is always in the front of my mind during class, and especially during camel pose.

Personally, I would also get an appointment with my MD for bloodwork — you MAY be having thyroid issues or blood iron level issues or hormonal challenges that are coincidental but not as a result of Bikram’s Yoga. Better safe than sorry, IMHO…

Friea

Hi Janet

Thanks for getting back to us with an update, that would probably have come as some surprise to you.

I ask you to have an open mind as you read the following ideas.

I have really thought about everything you have told me and I am having difficulty agreeing with the diagnosis from your accupuncturist. It COULD be that I don’t have all the information that would conclude heat exhaustion. Many people do leave certain vital points out of the forum perhaps because they don’t want to share it, or don’t think it is an important detail. If this is the case I have included a great link for you here that could help with the signs and to confirm your experience: Heat Exhaustion Information.

I am not sure that your core temperature could have been raised for 24/7 (as you indicated) as result of your yoga.
>> Firstly you would have intuitively taken steps to cool yourself down after class.
>> You were drinking “as much water as [you] can”
>> And you are taking what seems to be a very high amount of electrolytes – certainly at a level that seems sufficient.
>> These things would certainly lower your core temperature again and not keep your body hot.

I simply wonder if there is some other underlying cause or problem worthy of exploration.

I am just encouraging you to seek a second opinion perhaps from medical doctor or specialist. I will certainly do my research and welcome hearing what your accupuncturist said (and anyone out there) regarding this very interesting conversation. BTW I am willing to be wrong on this. It just seems reviewing the full notes on heat exhaustion that what you have told us doesn’t fit in with that diagnosis except for that you feel hot and that during class you have shallow breathing. The ability to breathe deeply is a skill that can be re-learned and it personally took me months to find again.

There is one thing that nobody considered and is worthy of mention. It could be that the studio you go to super-heats the room. There are plenty of studios out there that heat to temperatures of 110-130 degrees Fahrenheit (temperatures well above what is considered to be safe >42 degrees Celsius and up to 55 degrees C). Combine that with high humidity (which is a combination of ambient temperature as well as the moisture from having so many students in class) and it is possible for core temperature to raise too high.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

I’m not glad to hear about some of your difficulties w/ the Bikram practice; but I at least dont feel alone in feeling that way too.
I often say the same thing to myself, “why am I doing this”? : I can be very sore, tender and stiff, especially the morning after. Thats even after epson salt baths.
I started this yoga in LA 8yrs ago. I did it for a couple of years and then didnt start up again until this past Fall. Back then instructors and others would always say to me, “keep coming”, just “keep coming back”. And even though I could hardly get out of bed the next day I would. Until I didnt anymore.
Last year I finally found some help with some of my back issues. This person addressed immediately my “soaz”? muscle. and he worked on it for a couple of months; and after I finally after years didnt have my back muscle problem. Then this year I started with Bikram again.
What draws me to want to keep going, I don’t know? I do know Bikram(Hot yoga) is not for everyone. This is the first time on this site, and maybe I can learn a bit from Gabrielle. Maybe some adjustments to my practice would be very helpful. I’ve taken a ton of classes in different studios(including Bikrams), naturally always hearing a tidbit from each instructor. I have rarely seen the teachers give attention to students postures.( a little though)
Last week I was at a class and the instructor had said, that he would be outside after class if anyone had any questions. I had never heard a “bikram” instructor say that.
Also, I notice that woman who even practice alot, will be flabby or less than tone around the stomach area; its always perplexing to me. I do know that I have been very conscious lately of really trying to hold my stomach in, but find it very difficult to do that when I am trying to focus on my breath in the midst of a difficult posture for me, and the teacher is saying, “tuck the stomach in”…..and I’m thinking how the heck can I take a breath in and get my stomach in the same time.
I came to this website, thinking maybe I should try some of Gabrielles info. before I give up on Bikram(“hot yoga)
Any suggestions, greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Mag

I too had really painful elbows when I started with locust pose. I even experienced a huge CRACK in my right elbow during class. Much MORE than a regular joint pop…this was a HUGE crack…with alot of pain and difficulty straightening my arm (pain during straightening but no restricted movement)…I think what happened were that years of tissue adhesions finally broke free through Bikrams. Now, physiotherapists do the same thing — break adhesions with manipulation and deep heat — when they find them, so I wasn’t too alarmed. I actually researched it and this is what I found:

From http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/325046-overview
“In combination with a physical therapy program utilizing range of motion (ROM) and stretching activities, the localized, intra-articular heating produced by ultrasonography greatly facilitates the mobilization of joint adhesions or capsular restrictions caused by tightness or scarring.”

I figured that my restricted range of motion in my elbows was being addressed by heat and manipulation in a Bikram’s class much like treatment provided in a physiotherapists office…

In any event, I kept with the Bikrams. I worked to my pain threshold and BACKED OFF just a bit as I always do, and after 6 months, my elbows are completely fine. And I can actually place my palms face down on the floor. I never thought I’d be able to do that.

IMHO, I don’t think an xray is going to show any tendon damage as xrays generally just show the bone, but best of luck. Personally, I would have CONTINUED the Bikrams because I’ll bet you anything that if you just worked it, the pain would go away in time and your flexibility in that area would improve immensely. And like I said, it may be that you have had freeing of joint adhesions and this will be better for you in the long run. Lets face it — if you have adhesions/capsular contraction, it will only get worse not better with time.

Finally, I think the instructors DO know what the yoga does to the body, and it really is up to the individual to know themselves, know their limits, use common sense and react to class instructions accordingly.

I’ve noticed nothing but positive benefits from Bikrams’ with respect to my lower back and overall flexibility. I am now working on my chronically painful right hamstring! Hopefully in another 6 months this will be resolved.

Freia

As a life-long vegetarian myself, I think nutrition could be mentioned…

Have you measured your intake of ‘good fats’ lately? You will be able to find research on Omega-3s, vitamin D, etc. and an imbalance in this area can lead to excessive menopausal symptoms (extra heat, mood swings, etc.).
As for joints– sea food and chicken cartilage are a source of nutrition for our joints and something vegetarians wouldn’t be getting.

I’m not suggesting that you need to start dosing with loads of supplements, just that your Bikram practice may be showing you some areas of deficiency that you might not have known about before. Especially as you go through a change in life stages, your nutritional needs may change dramatically.

Bikram’s series or hot yoga will help with joint issues such as inflammation, scar tissue from old injuries or surgery, or stiffness from lack of use and resulting circulation problems. However, if you think about it logically, there needs to be some source of nutrients for your body to deliver to the joints as they heal. My personal experience as well as experience as a teacher has shown me that hot yoga will accelerate healing in the body, but you need to fuel the fire!

Personally I think beginners should be limited to 2 maybe 3 classes per week max so they have time to adjust and build up the bodies ability to handle the heat. This should especially be the case if they have never done yoga before and or haven’t developed good lung capacity…basically if you stress you bodies cooling mechanism too much too quickly you will send it out of wack. I think this is what happened to you. It also sounds like you are not breathing enough during class which if you dont do you will start to faint and feel dizzy etc. The most important thing a bikram yoga teacher much stress to new students is to breath. It must be constantly reiterated imo.