Getting fit the freaky way: Contort your body in 105 degree heat!

Sweat poured off the muscular man to my left and pooled on the textured rubber of his yoga mat. I watched as the sweat trickled down his forehead and dripped off the end of his nose. Gary, our hot yoga (or Bikram yoga) instructor marched up and down in a navy blue Speedo shouting like an auctioneer. "Breath in, stretch back, tight tummy, tight butt. Now we're cookin!" He climbed up on a square pedestal in the middle of the room and pulled the remote control to the heater out of his Speedo where he had wedged it between the synthetic spandex and his sweaty, if well-toned, upper thigh. He cranked the heat up and the large, hot-air-producing vents roared to life.

A kind of sweaty, masochistic, inferno, Bikram yoga doesn't resemble anything that I would recognize as yoga. It is composed of a series of 26 yoga poses, but it is really more like calisthenics in a sauna. But at a tropical 105 degrees Fahrenheit, the Sweatbox (Capitol Hill's very own Bikram studio), seemed to be quite popular.

"I've been doing this for seven years," one enthusiastic yogi told me. "It's so addictive."

According to CBS News we have Richard Nixon to thank for Bikram yoga in America. He allegedly obtained the services of renowned yogi Bikram Choudhury to help him recover from phlebitis. Choudhury went on to popularize hot yoga in America. Attractive female celebrities have done their part too, from Madonna to Jennifer Aniston.

Hot yoga, it would seem, is the secret to the Hollywood physique.

The first-timers handout that I was given at the beginning of the class read, "No matter what, STAY IN THE ROOM! If you feel dizzy or nauseated please lie down on your mat… you will feel better." Thus admonished, I resolved to stick it out, no matter how sticky the experience might be. Good puns are always at hand at Bikram yoga. "Don't sweat it" Gary said cheerfully when I expressed some concern.

The health benefits associated with Bikram Yoga are numerous. The Sweatbox website says that it will "improve overall health, minimize stress, relax the mind and energize the body." The heat is oppressive, the sweat tickles as it trickles off every surface of your body, and the exuberant teaching style can be a bit jarring. But, I admit, I felt slightly bouncier, lighter and more energetic when I left the Sweatbox.

 Emma may be reached at emcaleavy@su-spectator.com