Some like it hot with Bikram

Bikram yoga produces plenty of sweat, because, in cooler climates such as New Zealand, it is done in a heated room. Photo / Getty Images

Getting all hot and bothered while it's cold outside may be just the winter tonic you need. Angela Jones reports.

Fancy trying yoga but philosophically opposed to wearing small clothing and taking your socks off in the depths of a freezing winter? Do you already practice yoga, but find the supposedly relaxing lie-down, or savasana, at the end of class a torture on cold wooden floors?

Bikram, or hot, yoga may be just the tonic a freezing winter body needs.

An open mind and heart is needed as the whole concept behind Bikram is a little radical for Kiwis used to a more temperate climate. Yoga originates in India, where it's practised in the (relative) cool of the early morning or evening. But even gentle yoga in such an environment produces prolific quantities of sweat as warm muscles are made to stretch beyond the realm of what seems possible.

Bikram yoga replicates these conditions in rooms around New Zealand heated to 38C.

The heat warms your muscles to allow safer stretching and, as expected, practitioners sweat like maniacs, accelerating detoxification of the skin, blood and muscles.

"It is actually beginners' yoga,'"says Nikki Harris, owner of Bikram Yoga in Newmarket. "It's damn nice walking into a classroom at 6:30 in the morning and have it be really warm. And you stay pretty warm for a few hours afterwards as well."

The practice consists of two sets of 26 basic yoga postures and two breathing exercises designed to warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons in a specific order. It promises proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health and a sense of well being.

Predictably, women flock to hot yoga in the belief the sweat generated helps them lose weight.

The practice is designed to aid digestion and respiration, as well as helping endocrine, lymphatic and elimination systems work harmoniously. Appetite and weight normalises with regular practice, recommended as at least three, 90-minute sessions a week (about $15-$17 a class or cheaper with concession cards).

Practitioners also report other positive benefits such as greater self-awareness, a positive body image and the ability to deal with stressful situations more calmly.

But Bikram is also the most controversial system of yoga, a discipline which has 5000-year-old roots. Its Beverly Hills-based founder Bikram Choudhury (www.bikramyoga.com) has taken out a patent on the series of postures which bear his name and has sued studios for breaking copyright - not particularly yogic behaviour.

To certify, Bikram instructors must train at the Los Angeles-based mothership, set up their studios in a similar manner and use pre-approved scripts in class.

Purists have labelled the practice "McYoga'.

There may be side-effects for the uninitiated. The heat can be intense for reptile-blooded Kiwis, and some neophytes have reported crying after an hour in the intense heat.

And it is not unusual to feel nauseous or dizzy during your first few sessions - usually as a consequence of everyday dehydration. Instructors recommend coming to class fully hydrated and drinking more water generally.

Once you are drinking enough, your body will tolerate the heat better and you will actually enjoy the heat.

For many Bikram provides the kind of workout, and fast results, missing from other, more sedate forms of yoga.

Warm muscles can stretch deeper and are better protected from injuries. Toxins are flushed from the body in waves of perspiration, producing a head-to-toe glow.

So if you can't wait until the end of a long winter to next break a sweat, check out the following websites for more information on a hot yoga studio near you.

- Detours, HoS