Iva Pocock looks at the latest Californian import - Bikram yoga. But this method is not without its critics
Two weeks after Anne Leonard opened her new yoga centre in a converted garage in Dublin, the ESB rang up to check if everything was okay. The premise's meter readings were extraordinarily high but Leonard assured them everything was fine - she just pumps up the studio temperature to about 41 degrees a few times a day.
Why? Because she's teaching the hottest form of yoga to arrive in Ireland: Bikram yoga.
Devised by the Californian-based Indian yogi, Bikram Choudhury, it consists of a series of 26 yoga postures performed in sequence during a 90-minute class. Starting with a deep breathing exercise, it progresses through moves such as eagle pose and balancing stick pose, all of which are classic yoga positions. What makes them different in a Bikram class is the heat.
"The reason it is a hot room is so that your precious body heat isn't lost plus it also helps build up energy and allows a deeper stretch," explains Leonard, who first came across the technique five years ago when living in Colorado, US.
Along with the heat comes sweat, so participants are encouraged to arrive well hydrated, wear as little as possible, and to drink water during the class's two official water breaks.
"You really sweat which is so good for de-toxing," says Maureen O'Sullivan, a 29-year-old engineer who has gone to the class two or three times a week for over a month. "This is one of the main benefits."
Bikram himself stresses the importance of the heat: "Doing your yoga in a cold environment can bring harm to your body," he writes in his book, Bikram's beginning Yoga Class.
At the age of 20, a weight-lifting accident crushed his knees, severely crippling him. Under the guidance of his guru, he created the yoga series and restored his health, says Leonard, who studied with Bikram at his Beverley Hills school.
Each posture has associated health benefits - for example, the half moon pose is good for scoliosis, and camel pose helps to cure constipation - and collectively they cure chronic illness, strengthen immune systems, relieve stress and build strength.
"I have confirmed the value of this yoga series again and again, scientifically, medically," he writes.
Leonard believes Bikram yoga is "absolutely" more effective than other forms of yoga, a point which experienced yoga teacher Essie Millie disagrees with.
"Every type of yoga does a huge amount of good. It's renowned for its health benefits but I don't believe for one second that Bikram is any better."
She availed of Leonard's initial 10-day offer, taking eight classes in as many days. "I really enjoyed it but I found it quite hard and I'm a yoga teacher. After the first day I felt it in my thigh muscles and that really surprised me."
Speaking after her first class, one 24-year-old woman, who asked not to be named, said she found it "harder than anything I've ever done in the gym. I felt sick from the heat but you definitely acclimatise."
The fact that people with no yoga experience can go straight into a Bikram class concerns Millie. "I don't think it should be taught to people who aren't already very proficient in yoga. Because it is at a set pace and has set exercises, there is not enough leeway to stop and explain to beginners."
However, Leonard stresses that newcomers with certain ailments are encouraged not to do certain poses. If someone has high blood pressure, "I'd say they should lay off the backwards bends initially". Although "the paradox is that the poses someone with a knee injury can't do at the beginning are those he or she needs most".
But Millie is particularly critical of the inclusion of the camel pose in Bikram's series. "There is no way a beginner class should include the camel pose - it's a full-on pose and one you have to build up to very slowly. I have just three in a class of 13 who go into it."
In response, Leonard says this pose comes towards the end of the beginners class specifically because the body is well warmed-up by then. Also, you don't have to do the poses perfectly to gain the medical benefits - simply trying correctly with 100 per cent concentration will bring health rewards.
All new Bikram participants are asked to sign a registration form to confirm that they have been recently examined by a doctor and are in "good physical health and fully able to perform all yoga exercises"; they understand they may have an "adverse reaction" to the room temperature and are disclaiming responsibility of Bikram yoga for any injuries.
"The medical form is to put it into your mind that this isn't a joke," says Leonard. The form is world standard, used in all 700 Bikram-certified yoga studios found in the US but also in Paris, Johannesburg and Berlin.
Since she opened Ireland's first Bikram studio five months ago, there's been every walk of life coming through, says Leonard.
Richard Doyle (14) is the youngest student to attend - he just saw the sign and decided to come along. In three months of coming three times a week he has sgrown a foot and says it's the best thing that has ever happened to him. "It's relaxing but a good work out. It's just really, really great."