Yoga Practice Track: Class 2

The practice I participated in was Bikram Yoga. Bikram Yoga is a practice of yoga that incorporates heat (a room heated to about 100-105 degrees) as a cleansing and healing agent.
The goal of this practice is cleansing of the body. The elevation of room temperature aids in the release of impuritites by sweating and pranayama. Bikram yoga is concerned with physical and energetic purification and training. Its goal is to bring the body and mind into a perfect state of health through a series of physical postures and breathing exercises.
The class started with a deep breathing exercise to warm the body. Hands were interlaced under the chin; as a deep inhalation began the elbows opened to the top of the head while the head tilted back. This is done as a toxin release.
Pranayama was emphasized throughout the practice to emphasize that class as more than a mere physical exercise.
The class closed with the purificatory technique "Breath of Fire" (relating to fire) as an inner cleansing. The philosophical elements supported and added to the practice by emphasizing the need to cleanse the body of impurities and change of energy in order to attain enlightenment.