Beauty

With a studio at 40C, a Bikram class at BE Hot Yoga is a sweaty, energising, affair

A Bikram yoga class at BE Hot Yoga, Edinburgh

The treatment

A 90 minute Bikram Yoga class at the BE Hot Yoga Edinburgh. £20 for two weeks of unlimited classes, or £13 per class. They also offer Inferno Hot Pilates and a shorter 60 minute Rogue Bikram class.

Why go?

To get out of the cold. These classes are heated to 40 degrees and humid, so expect to sweat. This studio is the only place in the capital to offer this style of yoga, which has fallen out of favour in recent years, potentially because of its controversial inventor, Bikram Choudhury, who has been accused of sexual assault. Anyway, this is an independent business, and the proceeds from studios don’t go back to the practice’s namesake.

Our spy says

You probably won’t have passed by this studio, which is down an alleyway at the end of Edina Street.

It’s a warehouse of a space, with stone floors, and a relaxed community vibe. It’s not slick. I see zero Lululemon.

In fact, there are very few clothes at all. When I enter the studio, it’s like walking onto a beach in Benidorm, with plenty of hairy chests and bikinis. I feel very overdressed.

As with all Bikram classes, the floor is carpeted (though with a special antimicrobial textile), the lights are bright and there are mirrors in front of us, so we can meet our own gaze.

There are 26 postures, each performed twice, and our teacher and the studio owner, Emma, talks us through them, with the constant barrage of instructions that are part of this yoga style.

We start with a primal looking elbow raise, pushing our head back and exhaling with our mouths open.

There are side bends, forward bends and some balance-y ones like eagle pose and balancing stick pose.

Emma reminds the newbies to only attempt one per cent of each pose, which takes the pressure off.

Though it’s roasting, I’m not finding it too uncomfortable, until we move onto the mat, where my boiling blood seems to start percolating in my head. Among other moves, down here we do back bends including cobra, camel and bow pose.

I hit a wall at this point, and feel as if I’m in the middle of a flaming fireball. “Ignore the inner chimp,” says Emma, to the class, and it makes me feel better to think I’m probably not alone in these sensations.

Though the last 20 minutes are the hardest for me, the exercises seem to have become easier, with a few spinal twists, before we lie on our mats in shavasana, and the room slowly cools (sweet bliss).

The results

I feel totally high on endorphins, which may be part of the appeal of the hot studio (along with its ability to relax muscles, and myriad other health benefits, according to practitioners). Do I want to go back? It’s more like, do I dare to. n

BE Hot Yoga (13 Edina Place, Edinburgh, www.bikramedinburgh.com)