“Pull your heels and lock your knees. Exhale breathing, lock your knees. Roll forward, lock your knees. Last chance, lock your knees, lock your knees, lock your knees.” Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury’s voice describes a pose called “Half Moon.” I’m just beginning the 90-minute routine, with guidance from an audio recording of the dialogue. Six months ago there wasn’t a chance I could stand and bend over to touch my toes. Today, I can fold my body completely in half so that my face is pressed against my shins.

Reaching my toes seems like a small accomplishment, but the benefits of increased flexibility reach beyond yoga poses and into all other physical activities.

Bikram Yoga has changed my mentality toward stretching, which was something I used to avoid. After all, I had labeled myself as naturally inflexible, and I was pretty content with it.

I first tried out yoga here at the Student Recreation Center (SRC). That year I was having lower back problems, and I decided to give yoga a try. I ended up dropping the class about four weeks in. I didn’t like craning my neck to see the instructor while I was attempting a pose. There wasn’t much individual instruction to help with my back issues and the 6 a.m. start time was a bit too much to handle.

Despite my love for all things “granola,” I decided maybe I wasn’t the yoga type. Then this summer came along and I worked with someone who was a certified yoga instructor. She invited all her co-workers to experience a specific type of yoga called Bikram, or “Hot,” Yoga.

I’ll try anything once, and this first attempt had me sitting in a 105-degree room that reeked of sweat. Humidifiers worked all around me as the instructor explained the routine. For the 90 minutes, my goal as a beginner was to stay in the room, not pass out and do only what I was capable of. The instruction was to be given as a dialogue, and the leader would not be demonstrating the poses.

I’ve never sweated more in my life. My skin and the towel I stood on were drenched in my own sweat by the time that first class was done. I drank about a liter of water and was still thirsty. I was exhausted from the heat and humidity, my body ached, but I felt as if I had worked from the inside out. The routine really stretched every joint and muscle.

There are many things about the Bikram routine that worked better for me as opposed to “regular” yoga. Having the instructions given as a dialogue was extremely beneficial, as I could focus on what the teacher was saying while attempting the poses rather than physically imitate something I saw from an obscure angle.

I was easily convinced to love the heated studio room, as well. The heat serves to warm up joints and muscles. This makes them more flexible, but also allows for a better workout during the routine and sweating out toxins. I went to Bikram as often as I could last summer. Since I started, my flexibility, balance and endurance have improved, and I even lost a bit of weight. Although there is no Bikram studio in the area, I practice by listening to it on tape. This interesting type of yoga, once learned, is an exercise routine one can do anywhere, anytime. Bikram yoga is unorthodox, but maybe that is why it worked for me.