by Caleb Wyeth

Created on: September 13, 2009

It has been over 10 years since I last was able to touch my toes with my knees straight. When, as an elementary school student, my classmates and I were put through a battery of standardized fitness assessments, my flexibility was off the charts. Off in the wrong direction!

I was strong as an ox, at least relatively so for an eleven year old kid; sitting, legs outstretched in front of me, toes butted up against the masking tape on the floor representing the starting point for the flexibility test. But I couldn't even reach the tape. I was the only kid in the entire fourth grade class who didn't even show up on the chart. They didn't tell me that, but I watched enough kids that day and I knew it. Don't even get me started on the hours of group lessons, suffering cross-legged ("Indian style," we used to call it in an incredible un-P.C. fashion) for hours at a time on the scantly carpeted schoolroom floor. My flexibility has always been painful for me.

A lifelong athlete and avid dancer, I've taken forays into a variety of activities and techniques to try and improve my flexibility. Some turned out better (partner-assisted stretching and meditation) than others (ballet). But I think I may finally be on to something lasting: Bikram Yoga.

Yoga originated in India and involves not just a physical but also mental discipline. The term has many meanings relevant to its modern practice in western cultures, including "to control," "to yoke," or "to unite." Outside India, "yoga" is most commonly associated with a form of exercise which is "practiced." Someone who practices yoga is referred to as a "Yogi." The nature of the postures and movements in yoga lends itself remarkably well to improving flexibility.

Bikram Yoga, named for its creator, Bikram Choudhury, is a twenty-six asana (postures) series which is specifically designed to systematically warm and stretch your muscles, ligaments and tendons, and in a specific and most appropriate order. Like traditional yoga, Bikram's series of postures help move freshly oxygenated blood throughout your whole body, theoretically to each organ and even fiber of your body. This, in a most natural way, as the affect of restoring your body's systems to a healthy, working order, and proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant health, and an overall sense of well-being are the alleged additional and readily noticeable benefits. According to Bikram, it even has physical healing powers.

While some controversy surrounds the man, Bikram Choudhury,

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