YOGA gets even hotter!

By: Nina Munizaga

         As if yoga wasn't hard enough, requiring you to twist your limbs in all types of unnatural positions without falling flat on your face, one style has added an extra element while you're practicing: 105 degree heat.

         The style, called Bikram Yoga, is practiced daily around the globe from Bombay to San Francisco to Tokyo -- and everywhere in between, including cities across Florida.

         The style was developed three decades ago and copyrighted last year by Beverly Hills multimillionaire Bikram Choudhury. The Indian-born guru has his home school in Los Angeles and travels the U.S. holding workshops - he started his first U.S. class in the 70s.
        
         Bikram Yoga is a demanding 90-minute - 26-hatha-yoga asana, or posture - class done in a mirrored room that's heated to 105 degrees. Each posture is performed twice. The heat is supposed to help warm up the entire body and loosen the muscles.
 
        Unlike other yoga classes that vary from instructor to instructor, Bikram keeps the same strict routine at all of its 700 schools around the world - nothing about this class is haphazard. This type of yoga can reduce the symptoms of many chronic diseases, such as insomnia, high cholesterol, lower back pain and PMS. It is also an excellent preventative method for already healthy body parts.

         The class is designed for all levels - from beginners who don't know the difference between a "downward dog" and a hotdog, to experienced yoga-lovers who can bend their bodies into pretzel-like shapes with ease. In time, you learn to focus your mind and control your breathing, thus realizing the true meaning of yoga: the union of the body, mind and spirit.
Lucky for all you yoga aficionados dying to partake in one of these sweaty, contortionist events. Classes are offered all over Florida: from West Palm Beach to Key West, Miami to Hollywood. Here are just a few:
    
The Netherland
9907 Sunset Drive
Miami Beach
305-534-2727

Yoga College of India
21073 N. Powerline Rd, Ste 49
Boca Raton
561-451-8845

Bikram Yoga College of India - Aventura
20695 Biscayne Blvd
Aventura
305-935-5881

Or visit the Bikram Yoga Website, for further listings at: www.bikramyoga.com