I had heard so much about Bikram Yoga from my friends in the last year that it became almost mystical to me, by the time I finally tried it. Talk to any Bikram Yogi, and you will be regaled with tails of seemingly magical levels of health, youth and well being.
What is Bikram Yoga?
Bikram refers to Bikram Choudhury, “The Guru behind Hot Yoga”. “Hot Yoga” you may ask? Yes. It is a sequence of 26 postures performed twice each in a 105 degree room. As stated on the official Bikram Yoga web site:
“…these 26 postures systematically work every part of the body, to give all the internal organs, all the veins, all the ligaments, and all the muscles everything they need to maintain optimum health and maximum function.”
“Yoga changes the construction of the body from the inside out, from bones to skin and from fingertips to toes. So before you change it, you have to heat it up to soften it, because a warm body is a flexible body. Then you can reshape the body any way you want.”
Sound intimidating? It did to me. Not to be out done by my friends, though, I set my coarse for the nearest Bikram Studio, That being Bikram Yoga NYC, to try my first class. Now, I had done Yoga, off and on, practically for as long as I can remember. Every experience I ever had was all about “doing what you can”, “Quieting the mind” and “releasing the ego”. Admittedly, there is very little use for a big ego in a 105 degree room; you have no choice but to quiet your mind when you’re concerned about whether you’ll survive! (Oops, there’s that ego again.) And, “do what you can” becomes “push yourself to learn what you can do.”
You are Going to Sweat!
Given enough thought, what do we really “endure” anymore? Now, don’t get your panties in a bunch, I’m not saying that getting that flat tire wasn’t an ordeal, or your cell phone battery going dead while you were waiting in line at the grocery store, leaving you no choice but to actually interact with the check out girl, wasn’t tragic. I’m just saying, we’ve got it pretty easy most of the time.
Therefore, when you’re in a hot humid room and the instructor is shouting, clapping hands, snapping fingers and sometimes even using sarcasm; it’s going to bring up some emotions. There has been more than one time that I have shot a dirty look at my Bikram teacher. Accepting your circumstances, and the fact that you did this to yourself, is a good way to deal with the releasing of these emotions; when you squeeze an orange, you get orange juice. When you squeeze a forty year old who hasn’t worked out in a while, you get dirty looks, and sweat.
A Practice for Life
There have been very few things I have tried that became a passion; Going to school to become a massage therapist, Stand-up comedy and now Bikram Yoga. It’s challenging and humbling, but constantly rewarding. Every class builds on the last. Even though it’s the same 26 postures ever time, there is always something to improve on, one is never “finished” learning Yoga.
A favorite quote that you will no doubt see hanging in any Hot Yoga studio you might visit, sums it up better than any thing I could say;
“It’s never too late, It’s never too bad, and you’re never too old or too sick to start from scratch once again”
~Bikram Choudhury
Heather Height - Hi! I'm a stand up comedian, sex advise talk show host and a writer. I pride myself on having an enormous amount of seemingly useless ...
