Well for those of you that have never heard of Bikram Yoga think "Hot Yoga" as it is called in some countries. Whatever you know it by or if you are learning about the practice for the first time in this blog let me just start by saying that I have been doing the practice for just over 10 days and am already like a herion addict looking for a fix everyday. I have done several Yoga classes and I have never before experienced anything quite like the journey that this form of yoga takes you on. Let me just say up front, I am in no way a teacher, trainer or even close to being coordinated or flexible enough to have mastered a decent hamstring stretch let alone any Yoga practice to be judgmental of any style or form of other Yoga practices. There have been measurable benefits I experienced in everything from a body balance class that incorporates Tai Chi, Pilates & HathaYoga to a meditation and flow Yoga class. I just find that Bikram Yoga takes it to a whole other level mentally, physically and yes, even emotionally. Let me tell you about my journey so far....
I heard about Bikram Yoga...well, overheard about Bikram Yoga.....through a conversation some insanely fit women were having at the gym. Me in my baggy jumper and trusty stretch pants, them stretching out their finely sculpted limbs without so much as a fat roll between them I was curious to learn more about this "Bikram Yoga" that had them both buzzing about how challenging it was but how the results were amazing etc. Watching them get off their mats and head for the daycare where my daughter was as well, I swallowed my lump of jealously when I watched one of these divine creatures pick up her baby who was at least 5 months younger than mine. How can she LOOK like THAT after just having had a baby! I still look 5 months pregnant despite half starving myself, punishing gym sessions, early morning bootcamps and throwing myself into awkward and desperate poses in several different yoga classes. What gives?? I chanted "Bikram Yoga Bikram Yoga" in my head for the whole drive home fearful I would lose this potential golden nugget of weightloss secrets and be forever stuck in my own limitations and lack of discipline. Finally home, baby sorted, grabbed laptop and madly typed in" Brickhun Yoga".... what the hell...ummmm..."Brickham Yoga?"....damn it..."Brick Yoga"....damn you google damn you to hell....."B Yoga"....ewww...notta exactly....so then typed into google search "yoga that starts with the letter B". YES!!! BIKRAM Yoga!! Finally! So long story short, after finally getting the name right I was able to then do a local search for Bikram Yoga Classes and found the only one available was thankfully, not too far from where I live. I showed up the very next day for my first Bikram Yoga Class...
You have to show up at least 30 minutes before the class starts so being the Virgo that I am, I showed up 45 minutes before hand and found myself waiting outside the studio for a full 15 minutes before the doors were graciously opened for me. Shoes removed, I walked into the studio barefoot, signed in and clutched onto my Yoga mat like a child to its favorite blanket waiting for the class doors to open and begin this much anticipated Yoga class. After what felt like an eternity. the class doors fling open and a wave of hot moist air blankets the waiting area while one by one red faced, fatigued almost tramautised looking individuals came slowly out through the doors walking past me like I wasnt there in a sort of trance like state. I should mention that the bodies that came out were like someone opened an FHM or GQ magazine and all the models came walking off the pages...the fitness levels of these Bikram students was incredible...and then there was me....yeah.
Anyways, once the room was cleared of traumatised looking models,I was allowed to waddle my way into the room, pick a spot (of course, near the back and in a corner...favorite hiding place in new classes) and then told to lay down feet facing the wall and get adjusted to the heat....no talking...just laying and adjusting. It is literally like a sauna in there and the sweat was pouring off me just in the exerted energy used to fling out my mat, peel off my sticky jumper and lay my big arse down...heart pounding I waited to be told what to do next. Without warning the lights are turned all the way on and an insanely sculpted instructor who makes Brad Pitt look plain was at the front of the room. *clap clap* "Welcome to the torture chamber! For those of you who are joining us for the first time, you are about to know what it feels like to die for 90 minutes but I promise you, if you do nothing else but just STAY in this room, you will leave knowing what it feels like to really live." Panic. Gulp. Stand.Ohhhh Shit...
Facing a mirrored wall I feel like I am literally the pink elephant in the room at 6ft tall wearing full length yoga pants and a pink singlet, I am surrounded by the scantily clad and seriously fit super beings. We were told to stand and begin with the "Pranayama Breathing" (I will do a seperate blog on the 26 different bikram poses and what benefits they give the student...) and I watched as the rest of the class neatly folded their hands under their chins and began this intense shoulder & elbow raising (and at first, eyebrow raising) breathing technique designed to get as much oxygen into the body as possible creating a buzzing almost wind tunnelling sound through the throat.
Every joint, vertabrae and bit of cartilage in my body SCREAMED at me with just the first breathing pose, I began to think I was in over my head. Pushing on nonetheless, pose after pose I twisted, bent and forced my body and mind to move past the heat, past the straining, past the pain and began to "get comfortable in the uncomfortable". It became like an open eyed meditation and I literally just did, the best that I could, exactly what the instructor asked me to do letting go of everything else but the poses themselves. Before I knew it I was up to my last sit up, final spine twist and into the final "Breath of Fire". My body no longer screamed for water, or cool air but just to lay down on my mat, close my eyes and give my body the rest it deserved for a full 5 minutes. Ahhhhh.....Namaste....Once the room began to fill with the sounds of dragged mats, squeezed water bottles and soft chatter I flicked open my eyes, gave a final stretch and sat up feeling very drained yet energised at the same time. I was literally SOAKED from all the sweating, humidity and moisture in the room. Heading out through the studio door the cool night air was like a first kiss leaving me high and dizzy but wanting more more more....I understood what our instructor meant by "really knowing what its like to live". I felt so relaxed, spent, clear.....reborn.
That night I slept like a dead person only opening my eyes a minute before the alarm went off. This is usually not the case for me....I am a chronically light sleeper and wake to the sound of an ant passing wind! Best night sleep I have had since a very young child and the energy I found that I had all that day and next night was amazing! I headed back for my next class that night and 10 days later...I crave it like I used to crave a hot cup of coffee in the mornings! Thats another thing I have noticed...right away my food cravings have completely gone away! I even bought myself a bag of cashews which I usually inhale like nobody's business but this last time I just didnt enjoy the handful I took...they literally tasted different and I didnt want them at all. That, coffee, sugars, cakes, anything that is refined and sugary, bready, starchy, salty, alcohol or otherwise bad for me has been deleted from my "crave file". There are poses that work on the thyroid and metabolism so perhaps that is why but I have found that the weight is coming off quite easily now because no matter how hard I worked at the gym, that bag of cashews later that night or the toast with honey or any other night time nibbling I slid into made the effort at the gym all for nothing.
Well, time to organise the info for the next blog on the poses themselves. I am sure that will be alot more helpful to those who are seriously interested in it. I will also look into finding some helpful links along with where you can do a class...
If you are even considering it....let me be the one that gives you that shove in the back or kick up the pants to get there...you will NEVER look back. Its life changing....
No comments:
Post a Comment