Bikram Yoga

Apologies for the delay in a recent post. I've been busy getting myself ready to move down to Richmond, and have been generally unmotivated to write a new post anyway. Plus, I wanted my next post to be a good one, so I waited until I was ready and motivated. Now I'm drinking a nice cup of coffee and am ready to go, so let it begin.

On Monday, Max, Carissa and I went to a Bikram Yoga class. You may have heard of Bikram Yoga referred to by its other name: Hot Yoga. For a while now, I have been intrigued by Bikram yoga. I started doing yoga last year during fall marathon training when I was feeling really banged up and was having some muscle strain issues due to my lack of flexibility. After researching the topic, I found that yoga is practiced frequently by many top athletes, especially runners. I began with a couple sessions with Max (private lessons: Max is a proficient Yogi like his boy Barron Baptist... psyche). I could feel how great it made my body feel even after one session. The first run following a session left my body feeling loose and fluid. So, I decided to take a couple of real classes at school, with the same effect. Then, I basically stopped going. No real reason why, just lack of time I suppose. I've done a little bit from time to time between then and now, but nothing substantial. Until Carissa suggested taking a Bikram class.

So Monday was the day. My run for Monday was 9 miles, and I knocked that out right before I was scheduled to be picked up by Max. The run turned out to be a bad idea. I'll explain: This Bikram Yoga class was one of the hardest single session workouts that I have ever done. For starters, you are in a room that is anywhere from 100-115 degrees. You are in said from for 1.5 hours. During those 1.5 hours, you are doing up to 26 different poses, that are designed to stretch and strengthen each area of your body.

I knew I was in trouble when I was struggling by the end of the "warm up" section. Following the "warm up," was the "standing pose" section. Before the "standing pose" section, we were allowed (but not encouraged) to take a sip of water if needed. Holy crap I needed it. I was already drenched in sweat and beginning to feel like I could pass out if this went on for much longer. During the "standing pose" section, I KNEW I was going to pass out and had to stop and kneel down multiple times to avoid making it a reality. I didn't feel quite as bad when I noticed others (even Max) needing to do the same thing. Still, I was feeling like a total sissy. By the end, in the "sitting pose" section, I could not even kneel standing up on my knees for more than a few seconds. I was a total sissy.

The entire theme of this class is turning your body into a pristine temple that you can live each day to the fullest in. One of the supposed benefits of Bikram is sweating out toxins. At one point during the class, the instructor made a good point - "It's really fun and easy to put the toxins in, but remember how much it hurts when they are coming out." Great point. It freakin hurt something fierce. But toxins aside, it was one of the toughest physical workouts I've done. One of the main thoughts going through my head during the class was that I am supposed to be this total bad ass endurance athlete who can handle any physical fitness activity. No chance. I was made into a pure wimpy little boy. Another theme of the class is being humbled by your body. I was humbled.

At the end of class, Max and Carissa signed up for a month of unlimited classes. Since I've moved and am starting school, I was not able to join them. Had I been able to, I most likely would have done it. Although it was extremely difficult, I can tell that it would be extremely benificial to my overall fitness level (and would probably help my running tremendously). Plus, I have to believe that it is like any other phyiscal activity that starts out hard -- it gets easier the more you do it. Some of the folks in the class looked like they were spring chickens out there (not to mention some hot yoga babes). I will have to see if I can find some classes offered through my school gym or something. If you are interested, here is the link: Bikram Yoga

P.S. I think that for all posts following this one, I am going to edit them before I post them. I have been going with a stream of conscience approach, but I think it sounds pretty sloppy. I want to make it a little bit nicer. After all, it's all for you.