Bikram vs. Hot Vinyassa Yoga

I have had three classes of hot vinyassa flow yoga and it makes for an interesting comparison. I came to yoga late and I have only experienced Bikram so this was a new experience. I have several initial reactions from my experience with Down dog hot vinyassa yoga. There is much to recommend with this other style of hot yoga practice and it is hard to say one is clearly “better” than the other. If I had all the time and money in the world I would happily do both. 1) I love the cooler room temp and it is more humid so the sweat is about the same–perhaps I sweat even more in the cooler (92 degree 65% humidity) room. 2) Bikram has clearer instruction and is more tightly run–flow yoga is different every time and gives less specific instruction as to how to stand, what to do, what to achieve, etc. 3) Bikram is heavy on legs and knees–vinyassa is a big strain on wrists, shoulders, biceps and abs. 4) Bikram is more intense and the heat adds pressure, 5) Vinyasa is (at least in this studio) outwardly Buddhist and this is something negative which must be ignored. Who wants the chants, see figures of Buddhas and hear explicitly Buddhist philosophy? I want none of it but I am also tolerant of it. My brain says: “shut up and stretch” but I put up with it. Bikram is much more neutral and that is to be applauded. 6) the twisty-wristy movements are very hard for me–it is very challenging. 7) Perhaps only 6 poses directly relate to each other–triangle, head to knee, tree, floor bow, standing bow, and a brief portion of knee bends but with hands held high in the air instead of straight ahead. 8) the quick repetition push up, up dog, down dog routine is there to get the heart rate up but seems rather pointless. Bikram has a cleaner and more organized plan and purpose. 9) no time for water breaks in hot yoga–the time is spent in a variety of ways–two full minutes with legs straight up in the air, merging into getting legs all the way back behind one’s head–no clue how to get there yet. 10) poses merge quickly into others–sometimes it is hard to hear and see what is expected–following Bikram was clear from the beginning–so even if I cannot do it–I clearly know what I cannot be doing at all times in Bikram. With vinyassa, I am chronically surprized what is next, whether to bend or straighten leg, how to flip around, etc. Many of the commands I am getting used to “Warrior 1”– “Warrior 2”–etc.–others I am slow to see and the added variations by the more experienced yogis can be confusing. So the instructor has some people holding knee down, others having both legs straight–more advanced straighten both legs and then, lift the upper leg. OK, ,I got it. 11) those ab poses are good, although I can hardly do them. Every instrctor does them differently and explicit ab training would be a good idea for Bikram yoga. As I said, vinyassa is better for shoulders, abs and wrists. I really need to get my wrists looser.

I welcome your response.