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bikram yoga
May 2009 
Bikram yoga
Posted on Aug 5th, 2008
by 
kicksave
kicksave
I have never wanted something to end so much! Well maybe that time during basic training where we went into the gas chamber, filled with tear gas and had to remove our gas masks and then stand there till the drill sergeants thought we were ready to leave, but other than that nothing else has ever been so hard, it's a million degrees and the heat weighs on you, assaults you!.
teargas
They give you a mat, a big towel, a little towel, and a bottle of water. The big towel goes over the mat, the little towel is to wipe the sweat off your whatevers or use as a strap in some of the poses, the water bottle is your manna from heaven. After about 15 minutes, it's of course warm water. My towel was sopping wet. If I were a wrestler trying to make weight, 90 minutes of this would move me down two weight classes. I was doing this pose, feet about 4 feet apart, hands gripping my ankles (kissing my a$$ goodbye!) head on the floor, ok head near the floor, and I look back and sweat is pouring off my shorts between my legs, not dripping pouring.
melting-cow
I'm pretty flexible, can do a reasonable split, I'm familiar with all of the poses that we did and can do most of them, I have weak ankles (too many sprains over the years) so the one legged stances are a challenge but I was able to wobble through them.
Anyone who has ever taken my blood pressure has always commented on how low it was, I've always taken that to mean I can eat all the salt I want, in the second half of class, when we were on the mat, we would rest in corpse pose, and then raise our arms over our heads and do a sit up, and then move into the next pose, each time I'd have this wave of light headed-ness wash over me that I would have to pause before moving into the pose.
When it was over, my throat was so constricted I couldn't talk much above a whisper. I drained a juice box of coconut water, and 2 two liter water bottles.
Driving home, I realized I had never felt so incredible before! It felt like every cell, every muscle was charged up and alive!
Access: Public
this is why I do Bikram yoga. and teach it. have you been back for more?
I loved reading this. thank you. it's great to read first impressions. after practicing for almost 6 years it's hard to remember my first impressions.
thank you. :-)
-d
oh yes and I don't think I've ever read a first impression of bikram's that included tear gas or a photo of a melting blue cow. you gave me such a good belly laugh.
thank you. thank you.
I loved reading this too.
And I very much love the melting blue cow. I would like one of those.
I had been looking for icecicles dripping or a water fall when I found that image and thought it was perfect
I have worried about sweating as well. I used to attend Sweat Lodges with some regularity, and while that is the intent after all, to sweat that is, I would wonder about just how much was right. I found that somehow even my head was apparently sweating a great deal more than most people's because I would leave the lodge with hair that looked as though I'd just stepped out of the lake while others would appear to be completely dry. Were actually sharing the same space there, friend?
oh Janet!! sweating is GOOD for you. the more you sweat the better. your skin is an organ of elimination. i notice that my skin is much softer and healthier if I am drinking plenty of water, eating right and sweating almost every day. also– sweating is a very healthy way for your body to regulate it's temperature. it's a GOOD thing!!
I sweat BUCKETS when I'm practicing yoga in a good, hot room. I sweat so much that I feel CLEAN by the end. :-) If I'm practicing daily, eating right and drinking plenty of water, I shower before class and just air dry after class. sweat is the ultimate hair conditioner and skin moisturizing. really. :-)