According to the official Bikram Yoga website, hot yoga (or Bikram Yoga) was created by Bikram Choudhury to benefit all the muscles, internal organs, ligaments, and veins. It consists of 26 poses held for varying lengths of time and is held, traditionally, in a room heated to 105 degrees. The point of the heat is to increase flexibility and to “flush out the toxins” in our bloodstreams. At Yoga on Baxter, my chosen studio, I believe the class is named “hot” yoga and not “Bikram” because it does not follow traditional Bikram protocol. And this is one of the reasons I chose it. Instead of 105 degrees, the studio is heated to between 80-90 degrees; instead of 26 positions held for long durations, the instructor leads us through 40-60 poses over the course of an hour. We were in constant motion the day I attended with brief intervals for breathing awareness. The class is geared toward beginners and the instructor, Kristi (who is also the owner and a Bikram graduate) gently guided individuals who struggled or were slightly off-pose. The class attracted a motley group and I appreciated the variety: big and little bodies, bodies with acrylic nails, married couple bodies and lots of singles, one linebacker body, one grandma body, all color of skin bodies, bodies with tattoos, flabby bodies and skinny bodies. I do believe, however, that I was the only one there with a Jew-fro.
Here is an amusing personal piece on hot yoga: Is It Hot Yoga or Balmy?
12resolutions 
You crack me up.