Bikram, Day One
So, today was my first day doing Bikram Yoga.
It’s basically a 90 minute class in a room heated to 105 degrees. As it was described to me by the studio’s owner before class, Bikram is organized to wring toxins from your body.
The classes aren’t too packed, none sell out, so that’s good. There were maybe 8 of us there at noon today.
As I stated before, my intention is to go every day for two months. However, when I paid for the first month, I got told of a new offer they came up with. I paid $30 for 30 days, unlimited lessons. But, the new incentive they have is… if I show up for 30 consecutive days, the next 30 days are free.
So, that shouldn’t really affect anything, aside from confirming that I don’t have to whip out any money a month from now.
The class itself was fine. It reminds me of seeing A Chorus Line, but then, what doesn’t? Just how for the final Chorus Line number, “One,” they are doing the big Chorus Line kicking at the end. And how they make it look effortless and their legs all go up so high, but whenever I saw them appear on television, both on Good Morning America and Ellen, the hosts joined the line and, well, it showed you the extension of a normal person. You forget how much it takes to keep that flexible and stretched out.
The room is, as you would expect, hot. I made one “error” on my way to class, although they said it is common and a lot of people don’t pay attention to that. On my walk to the studio, I bought some bottled water for class, but as I was walking, I thought… hmm, I wonder if I’m allowed cold water in class. The whole point of the class is to heat up the body. The water is recommended to hydrate the body, but not necessarily to cool it down. It’s kind of not the point. So, I’ll probably get some bottled water at home, and keep it room temp.
The class is broken down into halves, the first half standing, the rest on the floor. The heat doesn’t really bother me. I love a good sauna. They told me to go by the window my first class, since it is “coolest” there. It is hottest in the middle of the room.
It is always surprising to hear people calmy tell you do things that seem physically impossible. Of course, when you look around, many people are doing the impossible. I forget the exact move, but during the standing portion, I recall my thigh muscles quivering so much if was as if my body had an internal earthquake, and the epicenter was my perineum, with the shockwaves rippling outward.
I didn’t avoid doing anything, but there was a lot of modification. One thing, involving laying on both arms, palms up, I doubt I’ll ever be able to do with the decades-old injuries to my left elbow. I had surgery on it and all. I just palmed down. I won’t say I’ll never be able to do it, because there are a lot of yoga stories involving people who had age-old injuries that healed, so who knows.
I kept tabs on the amount of water I had left against how much time was left in the class. It was quite a relief to switch to the floor portion of the class, but I never found the class overwhelming. I kept trying to relax into the poses, monitor my breath, and push my body to its limit, knowing today’s limit will be more restrictive than tomorrow’s, or Friday’s, or Saturday’s… I’m very curious what it will be like after two months.
About 15 minutes before the end, I was feeling it. It had all built up, and the heat started to swarm over me, my muscles seemed less inclined to play along, and focus was harder to maintain, but I did every pose in the class. I was just really happy when we finally got to corpse pose, and told it was over.
Until tomorrow.
