According to celebrity yoga trainer Subodh Gupta, you should make sure you are following
Celebrity Yoga trainer Subodh Gupta
the right yoga teaching for you, especially if taking yoga classes after cancer. Recently he has claimed there are reasons why the Bikram Yoga style is not healthy – for Madonna or anyone else.
Looking at recent pictures of ‘Madge’, he may have a point. When photographers catch her unawares, she is not looking her best, and subjecting her body to artificial heat could be one reason. Bikram yoga style recommends room temperature should be a minimum 105F (40.5degrees centigrade); the room should be really hot so you sweat more while doing yoga.
“Now, if we go by this logic of Mr Bikram Choudhary then the best place to do yoga should be a desert, isn’t it?”
Gupta says, while it makes sense to warm up your body before going for any stretching in yoga, “we don’t
need to artificially heat our body from outside. Instead we need to warm up our body internally. This can be
done easily by doing 6 to 12 rounds of sun salutation; if you are considering a stronger workout then perhaps
practice 15 to 20 rounds of sun salutation”.
Fresh Air is important. The best location to practice yoga is a place where fresh air is available in plenty.
When we breathe in fresh air during yoga, it can help in rejuvenating body and mind. However, fresh air is not available in Bikram yoga classes as all the doors and windows are closed to heat up the room, so yoga practitioners breath stale instead of fresh air. This is not good if your immune system might be compromised.
Dehydration: If you are not used to a hot temperature, you body can get dehydrated in the heat and you may feel sick. Also, if taking hormonal drugs that dry out your skin, this could add to problems.
You may be healthy, but that doesn’t mean everybody who comes to the Bikram yoga class room is also healthy, so you may end up smelling the sweat of an unhealthy person.
Based in London, Gupta conducts yoga, weight loss, nutrition and stress counselling sessions for a number of celebrities, and is concerned that people practice the right type of yoga.Yoga is recommended as exercise for cancer patients, but before taking classes, make sure they are right for you. For further information contact Subodh Gupta 07966275913
NOTE: In trials conducted at MD Anderson (one of world’s top cancer hospitals) Breast cancer patients who did yoga tended to enjoy better health, less fatigue and experience less daytime sleepiness. This applied to women who were undergoing radiotherapy for their breast cancer, said scientists from the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, USA.
