Field Trip: Bikram Yoga

After a few months of researching and debating I finally made the time to try Bikram Yoga. A few clients of mine have taken classes and other friends have raved about the intense experience of this form of "hot yoga" so I decided to test it out as a personal experiment. First class is free so why not?

I have experienced a variety of yoga types before and was familiar with most of the poses, however it adds a whole new layer to the practice when you step into a 105 degree room. We were told from the start by the instructor, it is common, especially in your first session to feel dizzy or vomit at some point within the 90 minutes. Luckily for me I didn't experience the latter. The warmth is meant to help your muscles stretch and clear out toxins...and let me tell you I was drenched in "toxins" within the first breathing exercise.

Moving through the instructed sequence of 26 poses (shown at right) in a room with full length mirrors I was glad I chose to wear black to hide the sweat cascading down my appendages. I also now fully understood why the web site had told me to dress like I was going to the beach and arrive on an empty stomach. Once we moved through the standing sequence I was looking forward to the floor work, but I found the second half the the class almost more challenging.

Each pose is done twice in the series. I noticed that repeating the movement allowed me to get deeper into the position which made me feel accomplished. When it was all over it was refreshing to take in a breath of air outside. I even felt a little lighter (probably because I lost about 3lbs in water weight). Even my muscles were looser, almost as if I'd had a massage. I was mostly just glad to go home and take a much necessary shower.

Part of me feels this isn't a safe workout to do on a weekly let alone daily basis because of the heat making it difficult to breath, but maybe one day I'll go back again. For now I'm glad I have the experience and will take some insights I gained to my Pilates teaching.