Bikram Yoga is a carefully designed series of 26 yoga poses performed in 90-minute sequence. The program is designed to work into each and every part of your body.
According to Bikram these yoga asanas work every single tendon, ligament and muscle, from bones to skin, inside out.
The 26 Bikram Yoga poses are as follows:
A typical Bikram Yoga class starts with a breathing warm up. This, then, progresses into an energetic standing series and is followed by a spine-stretching floor sequence and ends with Kapalbhati breathing. A short Shavasana between asanas guarantees optimum incorporation of benefits.
All asanas are practiced twice to aid deeper stretching. This system is designed to teach students good body awareness and facilitates immediate application of any rectifications to alignment made by the instructor.
Further, all asanas also have specific benefits that are condensed into 26 separate and extensive pages of benefits. All stages are done with the help of detailed photos that are also enlarged for better viewing.
There are further benefits for advanced students. Like, there is always something more to move look forward to and instructors permit this, providing both beginner and advanced alignment in Yoga sessions.
Bikram Yoga's fully mirrored studios let students see themselves perform, correct and themselves and, thereby, practice right alignment. Bikram Choudhury considers proper alignment more important than "depth". He says it facilitates deeper and greater benefits. For this reason he encourages his students to try easy and surrender to the series rather than force themselves to open up.