Mornings and evenings at the Bikram Yoga center in Thamel is where yoga enthusiasts meet to practice the one-and-half-hour session. Raju Shrestha, 44-year-old businessman, said he tried it to experiment, a nd since then has been hooked to the practice.[break]
“I had neck and back problems, but now it’s completely gone,” said Shrestha who has been practicing this form of yoga for three months.
In a heated room, the yoga session starts with breathing practice referred as Pranayama and ends with Kapalbhati, said instructor Mohan Sthapit.
“There are 26 postures, all in a series,” said Sthapit who got his teacher’s certification in Hawaii from Bikram Choudhury who began and popularized it in the 1970s. “Every posture will prepare you for the other.”
Jolinda Hackett, who took her first yoga class in 2006 in the US, said she found the “mental and physical benefits incredible” and since has been following the practice. Currently, the California native is in Nepal as a visiting yoga teacher at the yoga center.
Speaking on the various postures of Bikram Yoga, Hackett said “it’s a complete workout for the entire body.”
Bikram Yoga, with its 26 postures, is considered good and according to Sthapit “gives a whole benefit—digestion and blood circulation to name a few.”
And with the use of heat during the yoga session, Sthapit and Hackett said it burns more calories, increases cardiovascular workout, and helps to flush toxins from the body. An average session burns about 800 calories.
“I’ve lost quite a bit of weight myself,” Hackett said, adding, “It also helps to regain weight.”
But the instructors stressed that one needs to be consistent and persistent with the sessions to get the benefits.
“Yoga is like brushing your teeth; you have to do it everyday,” Sthapit, who has been practicing for seven years, said. “It’s like drug.”
Hackett agreed.
“The benefits are so good that you get addicted,” she said.
And people, like Shrestha who comes six days a week for the Bikram Yoga sessions, seem to be happy with the results.
“It’s been very helpful, and I’ve been recommending it to all my friends,” Shrestha said. “My wife has also joined, and I think I’d like to continue.”
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