Bikram Yoga Park Slope

This studio was my original stomping ground and where I learned exactly what a japanese ham sandwich was and how pushing was the object of stretching.  It's small, crowded, stinky, and too hot.  But I will always love it. How could I not. I popped my yoga cherry there.

Bikram yoga is like the mcdonalds of yoga.  The idea is that the guy, Bikram Choudhury, looked at American culture and determined what ails us (think obesity, stress, anxiety, insomnia, etc) and prescribed (like a doctor) these 26 postures that you do to adjust those problems as a whole.  It's also hot as Hell.  I once heard him speak (again, in my pre-capoeira, bikram days) and he explained that butter, which is fat, melts in heat, so if you do yoga in heat, your fat will melt, you fat ass! Needless to say, he's a bit of of a controversial figure.

Any bikram studio you go to will have the same 26 postures and the same "monologue" that the instructor will do (and not give many, if any demonstrations.)

It is a good workout. You will sweat your ass off. You will be miserable in there at times. But it feels so good after. You also can't eat for at least two hours before and need to drink lots and lots of water before and after.  So it's kind of high maintenance.
 
Pricewise, here, it's about 18/class.  If you get a year long subscription and go a lot you can break it down to about $8/class. Which is cheap but then you have to go a lot.  In terms of introductory specials, which is what my focus is  -- they have a $20 intro week or $90 intro month.


Bikram Yoga South Slope is the same owner, nicer space, cleaner space, not quite as hot, but way down on 15th street in park slope.  I find the teachers there, in general to be newer.


I plan to go to other bikram places to utilize the specials, and also to compare with these two since I have nothing to compare them with.

I cannot give either of them a rating.

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