It's 8am Saturday, the beginning of winter and we are standing, ready for a Melbourne yoga class, in 37-degree heat. It sounds barmy because it is. Midway between summer and a sauna.

Considered the fastest-growing style of yoga in America, the Calcutta-born, LA-based Bikram Choudhury has led his Bikram-method yoga in Beverly Hills since the mid-'70s, with converts including Mariel Hemingway, Quincy Jones and Barbra Streisand. With over 500 affiliated Bikram Yoga schools now in the US, Australia is suddenly catching on.

The first dedicated Bikram studio, Yoga Tree, opened in September in Melbourne, followed by Bikram's Yoga College of India [also in Melbourne], which opened in March. Sparkling clean, both venues belie the buckets of human sweat and malodorous bodies passing through each day.

Bikram Yoga is based on the 4000-year-old hatha yoga discipline, which unites postures and breathing techniques, and was taught one-on-one to a young Choudhury by his closest hatha authority, Bishnu Ghosh.

Choudhury has since worked with Western doctors to devise a series of two breathing exercises and 26 postures to counter our most common health problems. "It doesn't matter how well you do each posture, only that you try the right way," he says.

He believes that cranking up the heat aids deeper stretching, opens the pores to release toxins, thins blood to clear the circulatory system and increases the heart rate for a better aerobic workout: his brand of yoga is optimally taught in 60 per cent humidity over 90 minutes. He says regular practice can aid weight loss, develop stamina, tone muscles, speed up injury recovery, relieve asthma, improve digestion and stabilise blood pressure.

To the newcomer, Bikram Yoga is a veritable sweat-fest. To the uninitiated, its mention either piques curiosity or gives rise to scepticism. For the official medical word, I contact the Australian Medical Association's Victorian branch.

"We expose ourselves to day-long temperatures of 37-degrees or more in summer, so the heat is fine, as long as you get your fluids," says Garnham. "Thirst is always a poor and late indicator of the degree of dehydration. Also, anyone with a significant medical condition, especially one that affects their heart or kidneys, should check with their doctor before trying a class."

Choudhury says it is not unusual to feel nauseous or dizzy during the first Bikram class. "Practising yoga in a heated room reveals to us our present condition. Usually the problem is that we do not drink enough water." Many also feel weary after the first few sessions. "Your body has begun to cleanse itself," he explains.

Bikram's first 12 poses involve standing backbends, forward bends and balancing poses to build focus and those guaranteed rivulets of sweat. Bikram Yoga involves no shoulderstands, headstands, salutes to the sun or downward-facing dogs, common to other forms of yoga. Choudhury considers these too difficult for beginners and says the benefits of inversions (blood flow to the brain, reduction of blood pressure and compression of the thyroid gland) already exist in his series.

Hot Yoga

• Drink plenty of water before class and during it but arrive on an empty stomach. Eating three hours before class is a good rule to follow.
• Do not feel pressured to keep up with everyone else.
• Listen to your body. The benefits come when you try to do each pose the right way, even if you can only do it part way.
• Only do Bikram Yoga in a heated room and never alter the sequence of poses.
  Wear non-restrictive, cool clothing.
• Seek medical advice for any medical concerns before taking a class.
  
  Check out www.bikramyoga.com for affiliated schools worldwide.