I made sure that I was well hydrated a couple of days prior & especially today - I drink enough water generally - usually 2 litres plus an extra 750ml on training days, but I knew that with being in such a hot room & sweating out all of those toxins that I would need extra.
We rocked up to class, checked in & got sorted & entered the room - it was hot but I thought - this is bearable-famous last thoughts. Sarah & I set up our mats, towels & water bottles & sat there whispering to each other as most of the other participants were lying down relaxing - well except for one - there's always one in every class....you know the girl who does planks & side planks & leg raises right before a yoga class? I whispered to Sarah "What is she doing-is she trying to psych us out or what" - very intimidating. I was scared. Good on that girl though for being so fit that she can do those things prior to a bikram yoga session - but I'd prefer it if you did those at home next time ;-)
The instructor came in then & turned ON the lights. NO - turn them off - I want to bumble about trying to do these poses in the dark please! No such luck....
We started off with a breathing exercise & you had to have your elbows up, head back, elbows touch, exhale, head down. Well let me tell you - I had my elbows up when they were meant to be down & I was forgetting to inhale after exhaling so when the instructor said exhale I was thinking "What - I was meant to breathe again? Oh, ok then!" The instructor spoke quite quickly too so you had to concentrate.
We went through some postures, I couldn't do a lot of the postures fully, so I just did my best - one of the poses is called "Awkward pose" - of course I did that one really well! LOL
And then IT GOT HOT!!! Really hot. Like a furnace. Like there was no escape. I sat down for a bit until the feeling passed & then picked the posture back up again. I looked over at Sarah through my sweat laden eyelashes & was glad that she was there sweating up a storm as well. A few moments later, I accidentally looked at the clock.........IT HAD ONLY BEEN 25 MINUTES!!! I'm done! No way am I going to last in this heat for another 65 minutes! All the while the instructor is saying "right foot up on left thigh, knee down, hand behind back etc etc", oh and my favourite of the class " hold on to your foot with all 10 fingers clasped" - sure no problems - can I just go & dry myself off first - I was so sweaty that my hands were slipping no matter what I was trying to hold on to! Every time she said "hold your foot" I had to stop myself from laughing as I knew what was coming.
I sat down for another minute or so & had a few sips of water until the furnace feeling passed, then stood back up again. Oh, I'm meant to get my forehead to touch my knee whilst my legs are split stance standing? Sure, that will be no problem, how about I just lie down here and have a rest doing the Savasna?! The Savasna is where you lie on the floor on your back, heels touching, palms facing up & concentrate on your breathing. This helps reduce your heart rate & encourages healing - also known as the dead corpse pose. I liked that one - UNTIL we had to do it after each floor pose.
We did approx 30 minutes on the floor & after each pose, we had to do Savasna followed by a full sit up. Towards the end it was hard trying to turn around from the last pose into the Savasana - after doing our rabbits or camels or turtles or whatever other poses we did. I'm pretty sure all of my poses looked like a deranged elephant - arms here when they should have been there, leg up here, not on the floor etc etc At one point I saw myself in the mirror trying to keep it all together & had a silent laugh to myself.
During the "Balancing Stick" I was wishing that I had a stick to balance on!
My "Triangle Pose" was more like a circle.
My "Rabbit Pose", well I'm sure that it would have looked like I was having a nap!
Then the lights were turned off. We made it! We were still alive & we didn't pass out or leave the class! Both soaked with sweat, we got our gear together & were relieved to get outside. We are going back for another session on Saturday & then a couple more next week. It will be interesting to see how we go with the heat the next time. It was hard as I'm not very flexible but I did enjoy it. I will need to take a different towel next time though as my light green towel fluffed all over my dark clothes - not a bright idea!
My last word of advice for anyone that hasn't tried Bikram yoga yet - listen to the teacher when they say only breather through your nose after the initial breathing exercise. I forgot about that & opened my mouth & was smacked in the face by a furnace - I think that's what made me feel a little off for that brief moment as well.
Here we are straight after the class - sweat is "in" right?!
Outside in the cool fresh air afterwards
I came home & had a shower and I'm now feeling stranegly invigorated - and not hungry either? I just had a Powerade Zero, some watermelon & more water as I don't even feel like food as such. I will have a decent breakfast tomorrow though. I'm hoping I have a decent sleep tonight & that I'm not invigorated in the "stay awake, can't sleep" sense. Guess I'll just have to practice Savasna then won't I?
Aside from tonight - I've had a 1.4kg weight loss this week which I'm very happy about. I'm in a great place mentally & I'm going to keep going!
Thank you Sezzy for trying Bikram yoga with me, it was fun! (Apart from your parking ticket :-(......)
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