Bikram Yoga

I know Bikram Yoga was the hottest thing around about a million years ago (ha ha, "hottest", that wasn't even an intentional pun!), but I just went for the first time tonight.  Yeah, I'm so cutting edge!  I really like yoga, but I find it doesn't mix well (for me) when I'm doing a lot of training, so I only end up practicing yoga for short bits of time here and there.  I'd always wanted to try Bikram, but for some reason that never happened.  Until tonight.  Here's what I thought.

I love practicing yoga, and am always really appreciative of the (few) times I actually do it.  Especially vinyasa yoga, which Bikram reminded me of in some ways.  I love the challenge of holding the poses, and how your body lets you in a little bit at a time.  So I enjoyed the series of poses that Bikram took me through, although it omitted a few of my favourites (like the sun salutation). 

I really loved the heat. I knew it would be hot (obviously), but it was waayyy hotter than I was expecting.  I loved how much I was sweating... basically at the end of the class I looked like I just got out of the pool (so did everyone else for that matter).  I really like to sweat, and I really like heat.  I enjoyed the feeling of sweat running everywhere.  I don't know why I like sweating so much.  I just do.  Except now I'm still beet red in the face, several hours later. I may look like I have a disease.

I didn't like how the instructor talked for the ENTIRE 90 minutes.  She never stopped talking.  One thing I like about yoga (bear in mind, I mostly do it at home) is the silent, meditative-like state.  Hard to zone out when someone is yammering away the whole time.  And there was no peaceful music in the background.  I love the peaceful new-agey music.  Boo to the non-stop talking and no music.

Because of my knee injury, there were a couple of things I couldn't do.  I didn't like how the instructor said I should do them anyway.  I'm pretty sure she's not qualified to say things like that, especially when I know it's not a "mental limit" like she was saying, it's actually an acute physical injury I'm seeing an orthopaedic surgeon about.

Finally, I don't really like group yoga.  I am not a fan of hearing a bunch of strangers breathing.  That's my own hang up, I guess.  I like practicing yoga at home, even with a small group of friends.  But I've never felt entirely comfortable in a class setting.  It was ok, but I'd rather be on my own.

Overall... I'd go back occasionally, but honestly I'd rather save the $20/session (yeah, expensive), and just crank the heat and do my own hatha routine at home.  I know it's not the same thing, but I don't feel like I need an official "brand" of yoga.  Bikram is also 90 minutes, and then add driving to the studio, showering after (there's no way I could have just pulled on sweats and driven home without showering first, who knew?) and then driving home... and it's well over a 2 hour commitment in an evening.  Hard to work that into a training schedule.

Verdict: liked it.  Not enough to make me a regular.  But it did remind me how much I like practicing yoga, so I plan to do more of that (at home) over the winter.


6 comments:

  1. It actually always just seemed really gross to me.

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    1. There's definitely a gross factor for those using the "rental mats" when you consider that you're basically standing in a pool of sweat by the end. Rental mats - really? Eww. Hopefully they put those through an autoclave afterwards? And if you don't dig the smell of a sweaty gym, then it's definitely not for you! So I think in the future I'll just stay home to do yoga and turn up the heat if I want to sweat. I also don't buy the whole "releasing toxins" thing... sweat doesn't actually contain many toxins.

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  2. I am with you on the sweaty stranger part. My first experience with yoga has scarred me I think. I was next to a 70lb old guy in spandex who kept farting all the way through the class. Not good for my zen like concentration.

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    1. Totally - I've experienced that before in a class... another reason I prefer home! I'm actually ok with the sweaty strangers, if they would just not breathe. It's the strangers breathing that bothers me! :)

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  3. McYoga is not for me for all of the same reasons you listed above. The microbiologist in me has a huge yuck factor and I hate the constant yammering. The only classes I've truly enjoyed is with Steph Green at OmTownYoga in Nanaimo - no new-agey pseudo-philosophy during the class, and she believes firmly that you know how your body should move therefore she "customizes" poses to suit your body.

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  4. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it! I've always wanted to try it, too. I also like sweating and the heat, so I don't think that would bug me. Someone talking nonstop and telling me to do things that hurt- that i wouldn't like!

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