Tag Archives: Yoga

Last night was my second Bikram Yoga class, and I was really looking forward to it. I have been under tremendous amounts of stress lately and this has become a treat that my body and mind both deserve.

This week we headed to class learning from the prior weeks mistakes. We brought a large towel to drape over our mats to prevent us from slipping on our sweat and we got to class earlier to secure a good spot, in the back, on the opposite side of the room from the steam output. Unfortunately, we missed out the prime back row spots, well my friend did, as I snagged the last one but she was brave and moved herself up to the front row. (So she could admire herself in the mirror, I’m sure)

Class began and man, let me tell you, I think the heat was cranked up to 1,005 instead of 105 degrees. It. Was. HOT.

The sweat immediately started pouring off of me and no matter how often I stopped to wipe down, I was drenched again within seconds. I don’t know if I didn’t take in enough calories early in the day or if the amount of stress I’ve been feeling had taken that much of a toll, but I kept getting light-headed and had to come out poses quite a few times to recover.

Normally, I would be self-concious having to stop but what I love about this class is that the instructor constantly reminds you to listen to your body and do what it tells you. Mine was telling me to rest, so that’s what I did.

Just like last week, the standing balance poses ended just as I thought I couldn’t take another minute and the floor poses began. I welcome this break like you wouldn’t believe. Maybe it’s cause I’m tall and heat raises, but laying on the floor felt like I had just hit the lotto and I could feel a temperature difference.

By the end of class my mind was clear, my body was stretched and I felt like a new person. (Not to mention my tank top and shorts were soaked and there wasn’t a dry spot on either towel….eww) It was once again a wonderful feeling to just let all of my worries go for 90-minutes and focus on nothing more than the mind and the breath.

I have one more class next week at the current studio. The other day, I received a Groupon for a different studio and we have until tonight to decide if we will take advantage of it and commit to another 10 classes.

Namaste.

The other night, my neighbor, the lovely @Melysa_S,  sent me a text message asking if I would be interested in joining her for a 90-min Bikram Yoga session. I found that I got excited about the chance to try something new, and then a sense of fear took over. If you have followed this blog for a while, you know I have a phobia or group workouts. I loathe working out around people so the thought of not only leaving my comfort zone, but doing it in a 105 degree F room scared me….big time!

So what is Bikram Yoga? Well…

• It’s done in a 105 F room with 40% humidity.
• It consists of 26 “asanas” or postures and two breathing exercises that are done twice in a row.
• It’s 90 minutes long.
• The combination of heat and postures are supposed to be good for blood circulation, delivering more oxygen to joints, muscles and organs.
• Sweating is supposed to be detoxifying.

This all intrigued me as did the need to de-stress, so I found the courage to say yes and started looking at info on-line to prepare myself. From everything I read, hydration and towels were the most important things, as well as going to class with an empty stomach.

Upon arriving at the studio, we signed in, quickly changed and entered the room. I knew it would be hot in there, but I wasn’t prepared for the wall of heat that smacked me. We found the last two spots in the back of the room (of course mine was under the pipe that fed the steam into the room), settled in and began to stretch.

The instructor was really nice and I was grateful that I had experience with YogaX so I knew some of the poses. I was also happy many of them were balance poses as those are the ones I like the best.

There were a few times the heat started to get to me, but I wiped the sweat off my brow, took a little water and got back in it.

Class was split into a standing a segment and a floor segment. I was very relieved when we switched to floor work because it gave my head a chance to rest from the lightheadedness that was beginning to take over.

Ultimately, it was an amazing workout. I had a great experience, felt a ton of stress melt off of me and I look forward to two more weeks of it, since we purchased a 3-class pack for only $25!

If you are interested in what kind of poses we did, here is a graphic I found that has all 26.

If you have ever contemplated trying Bikram Yoga, I say go for it! I’m so happy I stepped out of my comfort zone and gave it a try!