My newest obsession
I recently started doing Bikram yoga and, I am not going to lie, it has turned into an obsession. I really love it! As many of you know I have been a little shall we say dissatisfied with my appearance as of late and I really wanted to shake things up and try to get out of this funk, so when a new Bikram's studio opened 15 mins from my house I decided to give it a try. I was scared out of my mind the first time as I have heard so many conflicting things about Bikram's, but I swallowed my fear and gave it a try and I am so glad that I did.
Bikram's is hot yoga (practiced in a 40 degree Celsius room with 40% humidity) so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle it, but I read up about it and heard that you should go15 mins early to get accustomed to the heat and that helped a lot. Now when I go and I am walking up to the room and I feel the heat coming from under the door it instantly calms me. I love warmth and nothing could be better to snap me out of my winter blahs than spending 90 mins sweating my ass off!
Another concern I had was that every class is a multi-level class, so I was worried that I would feel like a moron, but it is not like that at all. You spend so much time focused on yourself and pushing yourself beyond YOUR limits that you forget what everyone else is doing. Actually the few times that my concentration has lapsed I've seen that I am never alone when I loose my balance or can't push through a pose. It was especially worrying for me because I have a screw in my ankle and a bad hip, which limit me in a lot of ways. For an example the Supta Vajrasana or Fixed firm pose you have to sit kneeling with your hips between your knees (your butt on the floor) and that was next to IMPOSSIBLE for me as my ankle hasn't been able to bend like that in about 15 years (since I broke it and had my surgery.) After doing yoga 3 times a week for the last month I can not only sit with my butt on the floor, but I can actually do the full pose! (there's a pic here) It takes a bit of pain... okay some days a LOT of pain, but I improve every class!
I am not a person who like surprises and I like this style of yoga because it is always the same. I know going in which poses I am going to do an in which order, so I feel more secure. I think it's good for beginners too because we are able to master the 26 poses over time. The instructors always encourage us to go at our own pace and to focus on ourselves and our limits.
Yoga is hard. Simple as that it's an hour and a half of strength training and stretching. You have to push through pain and fatigue and honestly through a lot of sweat, but once that 90 mins is up and you come out of your final Shavasana - Corpse pose you feel like you've really accomplished something. I am always in a good mood when I am done no matter how crappy my day was or whether or not I was able to achieve my goals for that class (my next goal is to hold the standing bow and standing head to knee poses for the entire count all four times.)
Ironically with this all said I am actually skipping class tonight, but I am sure that I will be able to make it up later in the week! :)
Bikram's is hot yoga (practiced in a 40 degree Celsius room with 40% humidity) so I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle it, but I read up about it and heard that you should go15 mins early to get accustomed to the heat and that helped a lot. Now when I go and I am walking up to the room and I feel the heat coming from under the door it instantly calms me. I love warmth and nothing could be better to snap me out of my winter blahs than spending 90 mins sweating my ass off!
Another concern I had was that every class is a multi-level class, so I was worried that I would feel like a moron, but it is not like that at all. You spend so much time focused on yourself and pushing yourself beyond YOUR limits that you forget what everyone else is doing. Actually the few times that my concentration has lapsed I've seen that I am never alone when I loose my balance or can't push through a pose. It was especially worrying for me because I have a screw in my ankle and a bad hip, which limit me in a lot of ways. For an example the Supta Vajrasana or Fixed firm pose you have to sit kneeling with your hips between your knees (your butt on the floor) and that was next to IMPOSSIBLE for me as my ankle hasn't been able to bend like that in about 15 years (since I broke it and had my surgery.) After doing yoga 3 times a week for the last month I can not only sit with my butt on the floor, but I can actually do the full pose! (there's a pic here) It takes a bit of pain... okay some days a LOT of pain, but I improve every class!
I am not a person who like surprises and I like this style of yoga because it is always the same. I know going in which poses I am going to do an in which order, so I feel more secure. I think it's good for beginners too because we are able to master the 26 poses over time. The instructors always encourage us to go at our own pace and to focus on ourselves and our limits.
Yoga is hard. Simple as that it's an hour and a half of strength training and stretching. You have to push through pain and fatigue and honestly through a lot of sweat, but once that 90 mins is up and you come out of your final Shavasana - Corpse pose you feel like you've really accomplished something. I am always in a good mood when I am done no matter how crappy my day was or whether or not I was able to achieve my goals for that class (my next goal is to hold the standing bow and standing head to knee poses for the entire count all four times.)
Ironically with this all said I am actually skipping class tonight, but I am sure that I will be able to make it up later in the week! :)
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