Bikram yoga is one of the many types of yoga which is based on the usage of heat and humidity to make 26 postures promoting flexibility and muscular strength. The credit of having devised this form of yoga lies with an Indian guru named Bikram Choudury who in turn studied it from a great Indian yogic named Bishnu Ghosh. True to is synonym of heat yoga, the 26 asanas which constitute this form of yoga are performed twice in a room whose temperature lies between 95-105 degrees centigrade. This is one of the reasons as to why this form of yoga is not recommended for pregnant women as performing yoga in such high temperatures is only likely to bring physical as well as mental discomfort to the expecting mother.

Still in its nascent stages as compared to the other more prevalent forms of yoga, Bikram yoga is fast gaining popularity all over the world because its yoga asanas which entail standing poses, backward bends, forward bends and twists are known to be extremely beneficial to one’s lymphatic, nervous and endocrine systems. However, since these postures cause the practitioner to stretch in all directions and entail twisting of muscles, they should not be included in yoga for pregnant women since attempts at achieving these postures might cause the abdominal muscles to over stretch, harming the unborn baby in the process.

The reason as to why Bikram yoga is performed in a heated room is because heat is known to promote flexibility and therefore, even though the high temperatures might pose a challenge for some people regular practice leads to the accomplishment of a deeper level of physical atonement. In this way, the muscles, joints and ligaments are strengthened and stretched and subsequently accrue a number of benefits to the practitioner. On the other hand, pregnancy itself is known to raise the body temperature to an uncomfortable level due to which almost all expecting mothers try their hand at various remedies which would cool them down. Under such circumstances, practicing Bikram yoga would be grossly inadvisable and even though it has a number of physical benefits, may be its practice could be undertaken by the woman at a later stage in life after her pregnancy is over.

There are two basic fundamentals which are associated with pregnancy namely the expansion of the body and its hormonal changes and secondly the responsibility of the tiny life growing within the woman. This apart from the belief in the philosophy that everything in life occurs at its designated time, it is far more advisable for the expecting mother to be stretching herself in a relaxed manner in a calm, quite and cool environment when she can not only enjoy her movements but her baby’s movements as well.