• Your body burns fat more effectively
• Increases suppleness and elasticity of muscles, ligaments and other supporting structures of the body, allowing for greater flexibility with less chance of injury.
• Dilates capillaries more effectively, oxygenating tissues, muscles, glands, organs and increasing the removal of waste products.
• Increases metabolism, accelerating the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids.
• Increases cardiovascular workout.
• Leads to sweating which promotes detoxification.
• Just as when your body raises its temperature to fight infection, the elevated temperatures in the yoga room improve T-cell function and strengthen the immune system.
• Improves the nervous system as messages are carried more efficiently to and from your brain.
• Strengthens willpower, self control, concentration, and determination.

Drinking lots of water and making sure you are hydrated is one of the best things you can do for your health.
Before coming to class, we recommend that you make sure you are properly hydrated by drinking adequate amounts of water during the hours leading up to class, and make sure you have a water bottle with you in the yoga studio.

• Good hydration cuts back the risk of disease
• It enhances your mental clarity, you can focus more easily and your short term memory is improved.
• Drinking lots of water improves digestion, allowing your body to properly process and eliminate waste and distribute nutrients.
• Your skin is softer and glows with health and hydration, hydrated skin looks more plump which tightens the skin texture and improves the appearance of wrinkles and sagging skin.
• If you are already thirsty, then you are already dehydrated!
• The more regularly hydrated you keep your body, the easier it is for your body to distribute water all throughout your body, so all your inner organs and cells receive the benefits of hydration
• Good hydration has been shown to relieve back and joint pain for many sufferers Drinking water helps to control your weight, we often eat when we are just thirsty.

If you're new to Bikram Yoga you need to know a couple of things...
There are a few things you should try and do before and after class to ensure you get the most benefit out of Bikram Yoga.

• Make sure to drink plenty of water leading up to your class and come fully hydrated
• Do not eat a heavy meal at least 1.5 hours before class. Bikram Yoga is best done on an empty stomach. If you need to eat something, stick to a light snack like fruit.
• Leave your shoes and belongings outside the studio, in the lockers provided or in the washrooms
• Brink a water bottle or purchase water to take into class
• Do not bring mobile phones, pagers, gum, food, or anything else that might distract either yourself or others from practice
• Try not to talk while you are in the yoga studio, and if you have a question if possible wait until after the class to approach the instructor
• Be on time! Once the instructor has entered the room class begins immediately and no more students are allowed to enter the studio. Please make sure you are early to class.
• After class make sure to continue to drink water to keep you hydrated
• You might be hungry so bring a piece of fruit to snack on after class, you will most likely be craving something healthy.

In line with the benefits (of which there are many more!) listed above, Bikram yoga helps you lose weight in the following ways:

• It is well-known that to be effective, a workout should make you sweat and increase your heart rate. Bikram yoga well and truly fulfills both of these criteria.
• Warm muscles burn fat more easily; your muscles also become more stronger and more supple from practicing Bikram yoga. Both these factors allow you to exercise your body more effectively and aid the weight loss process.
• Detoxifying the body and having a healthy circulatory system are known to have a very positive effect on metabolism. This in turn increases the ability of your body to shed weight more effectively.
• It is widely known that practicing Bikram yoga enables many of your bodily systems and functions - digestion, respiration, endocrine, lymphatic and elimination - to work in harmony. As a result, your appetite will normalize (and likely decrease) and you will more than likely lose all your cravings for not healthy foods.
• Increased willpower and mental strength that comes from the challenge of practicing yoga in a heated environment will help you maintain your resolve and resist temptation when trying to lose weight

As well as providing the biggest challenge, the heat factor of Bikram yoga provides many of the disciplines' benefits:

• Heavy sweating helps detoxify the body
• As the blood thins, the circulatory system is cleared.
• The output of cells which fight infection is increased
• The heart rate is elevated
• In Bikram yoga, weight loss is made easier because your muscles are warmed and can burn fat more easily.
• The heated environment is initially very challenging, helping to increase will power and mental strength.

It is recommended that you attend a minimum of 10 Bikram yoga sessions per month (3 or more sessions per week is optimal) to gain maximum weight loss benefits.

It is accepted that it takes about 13 sessions for your body to start enjoying maximum benefits from Bikram yoga; three classes to understand and get used to the posture, then ten classes to work optimally with poses.

Bikram yoga shouldn’t be used exclusively as a weight loss tool; it should be used in tandem with a healthy eating plan and other exercise. Indeed, practicing Bikram yoga can help with other aspects of a weight loss program; the physical benefits allow you to exercise more effectively, and the mind/spirit aspect increases your awareness of what foods your body does and doesn't need.