Bikram Yoga 101

I did it!! I went to my first Bikram yoga class. What is Bikram yoga? Well, I'm so glad you asked! BIKRAM YOGA is a special yoga of 26 postures that are performed in a heated room. The room is heated to 110F (yeah, that's hot) and 40% humidity.  The poses aren't necessarily difficult themselves, but the extreme heat is what elevates the difficulty. 

Obviously, the results of Bikram yoga are unimaginable: toxins are released from the body, calories are burned like a furnace, and you can drop weight and build muscle like crazy. I believe this is true because every single person in that class had a body like Kelly Ripa (see below).  They were wearing little bikini tops and spandex booty shorts... and they actually looked GOOD wearing it!  I, on the other hand, wore a tank top and yoga capris. Eventually, maybe I'll have the abs to pull off the cute little bandeau tops, but for now, no one wants to see my body stretching and contorting in those poses wearing less than 5 inches of fabric on my butt!

So, I walked in, and layed down my mat. You're also given 3 towels- a big one, and 2 small facecloths.  The big towel goes on your mat because it gets soaking wet from your sweat, and turns into a giant slip 'n slide without the towel over it. The 2 face cloths also become essential for wiping your face off because the sweat will run into your eyes and until you can't even see! Also, for some of the postures, you have to use the facecloths to grip your feet or legs, because your hands are so slippery, you can't hang on!  

I was setting up my mat to face the front wall of mirrors. That's right, you have to stare at yourself in the mirror the whole time. I went in the back row of students, because it was my first class, and I wanted to be able to watch the other students and see what they're doing. I sat on my mat and waited for the teacher to arrive. I thought, "Hey, this isn't too bad- it's warm, but I can definitely handle this!" Then, the teacher walked in, and shut the entire wall of sliding glass doors that were WIDE OPEN at the end of the room. And she turned the heat on- that's right, the heat wasn't even ON yet, and the doors were wide open! 

The teacher doesn't do the yoga poses. She stands on a big box at the front of the room, and verbally tells you what to do. Then, she walks around and helps correct your form and postures. (Makes sense, because if the teacher had to DO the class, they wouldn't be able to do multiple classes in a row!) We started out with deep breathing to get the body ready for the stretches. The deep breathing was good. Felt nice, and energized the body. Then, we started into some postures, and I was still feeling pretty good. About the 4th posture, I felt this huge wave of nausea.  Seriously, I thought I might puke right there in front of everyone. I was also the only new person in the class, so everyone else was getting themselves in all these contortional poses...WOW!

So, the nausea hit me, and I thought- ok, I can either be a loser and sit down on my mat and just take a breath, or I can continue to try and impress everyone by keeping up with the class, and VOMIT all over someone else's mat. I chose the first option. I sat down and just started breathing and drinking water. I'm not kidding, I'm pretty good at yoga, and I've taken a few clasess. Plus, I've been through all the wii fit yoga poses, and I'm a "4-star" on the wii. But doing it in the HEAT is a whole other story. It wasn't that I couldn't DO the postures, it's that I felt so nauseous from the heat! I literally had this little voice in my head saying, "Carmine, you are a CANADIAN!!! What the crap are you doing in 110degree HEAT?!" Candians are NOT designed for this (can I get an A-men?) It was like my entire genetic code was fighting to not just run out of that place and into some air conditioning as soon as possible! My face and my whole BODY was bright blazing red!

So, I sat out for a few poses, and tried to accalmate myself to this new climate, and then I joined in with the class when I started feeling better. By the end of the class, I looked as if I'd been thrown in a swimming pool.  I drank 2 litres of water during the class, and was still thirsty when I left! I sweated so much that it was pouring off me.  My shirt could have been wrung out and my hair was soaking wet all the way through.  

But the best part is, I felt FANTASTIC! My eyes looked whiter than I've ever seen them, and my skin was glowing. It was awesome- a real "high." So, I'm taking a 2 day break and going back on Tuesday night. This time, I'm going to make sure I drink enough water BEFORE class, and not eat at least 4 hours before. The teacher told me after class that I had done REALLY well for a first timer! She said most people just sit on the mat and observe the first couple classes, until they feel ready to try the poses. She was surprised at how many poses I did the the class!

I'm going to give this a shot- At least for a month, to see how far I can progress with my flexibility. Plus, I can look great in my swimsuit for Dominican Republic in 2 months! Who knows, maybe I can get a kelly ripa body like the rest of the people in that class. Hey, it has to work- they ALL looked AMAZING!  It's undoubtedly the hardest workout I've EVER had. And I know what a workout is: I had a personal trainer for 8 months last year, and was doing squats with 135lbs- he kicked my butt BIG TIME, and I thought I would die. But this- man, you have to MENTALLY be pushing through the whole time. It's so hard!

More to come on my Bikram experiment- maybe some ripped abs photos will be posted soon? We can only dream...