Bikram Yoga

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[dsg]

Hi everyone-
I've had EBV for ten years, but after the last 2 years of finally receiving treatment, I think I'm now recovering.  I'm not sure if I was well enough to try Bikram Yoga first, but I think it was partly responsible for my recovery.
My Doc was always encouraging me to take regular 30 min. saunas twice a day to sweat out toxins, and I set up a infra-red sauna at home for this. However, my homemade sauna was not hot enough. I never really started to sweat until about an hour, and it was very time consuming for me. I did get some benefit from it, though.
When I heard that Bikram Yoga was done in a 105 degree room, I figured it was a sauna with some balancing and stretching, so I signed up for a 30 day intro.  I was surprised to find it very exhausting and strenuous, but I stayed with it.  I did need to take some naps afterward during the first month, and can still feel like fainting during the class sometimes.  Just holding your arms over your head for 3 minutes and stretching in the heat can really make you sweat.  However, the class is very forgiving, and you can take a rest or push yourself however hard you want.  Just saying in the room for the full 90 minutes is very beneficial as a sauna. 
The heat during the class makes you sweat profusely.  I end up drinking a quart of water before, during and after, which also helps to flush out my system.  The stretching and compression in your joints caused by the poses is supposed to restrict and then flood joints and tissue with blood and oxygen, flushing out toxins. 
My Doc believes that heavy metals from everyday industrial society living causes a lot of disease, as the metals impair immune response to common pathogens.  Anything to remove toxins will be beneficial to your health.  If you have the energy for Bikram Yoga, it is worth trying. I am full of energy after taking classes, have lost several pounds and am starting to get my body back in shape. If you are still too exhausted after any exercise, you could try Toxin Chelation and regular saunas.

[slim]

I've read that sweating is the best thing to rid your bodies of toxins.  But there is no sauna in my small town.  I've told my husband that the next time we have to stay in a hotel, it needs to have a sauna.

[dsg]

If your town doesn't have a sauna, you could try building one.  There are plans for infrared saunas that can be built within a corner of a room in your house in this book:

'Sauna Therapy for Detoxification and Healing', by Lawrence Wilson, M.D.
available at
http://www.amazon.com/Therapy-Detoxification-Healing-Lawrence-Wilson/dp/0962865761

I didn't have the room within my house to build a proper enclosure, and my attempt was limited to mount 3 250W infra red light bulbs to a board hung from the towel bar in my bathroom, and a nearby $15 stool from Target.  If I enclosed a 4' x 6' space and included an infrared heater, I would properly cook.With the instructions and plans in this book you can build one from parts available at a hardware store and do this in your home.

For a bit more $, there are prefab saunas available
http://hotspasauna.com/detail.php?pid=2&db_cid=0&db_ctname=&db_ccname=&db_csname=&page=1
And no, I am not a sauna salesman!

[sidiane]

Interesting.

I was told by my dietitian that I should not do saunas, etc., because she believes my adrenal glands are impaired.  She knows I have CEBV also - but she thinks my adrenal glands are messed up too.   But this is interesting ... I may give this a shot.  I went to a Shivananda ashram this February and felt so wonderful.  I love intense exercise and unfortunately cannot do the things I love ... and use to do regularly.  It has been 4 years.  But the yoga was really wonderful and I am wondering if I have to refocus on a gentler exercise ... at then incorporate long distance biking back into my life. 

Thanks!