Bikram yoga is not your typical yoga set up. It is 105 degrees Fahrenheit with 40% humidity. Talk about extreme conditions. While
in the hot room, yogi’s and yogini’s perform 26 postures two times each with two breathing exercises. They are firm believers in second chances, which is why you do each posture twice.
This is not necessarily a meditating practice. There are some meditating aspects, but the instructor is talking, counting, and motivating you through the entirety of the class. You find stillness in the postures (standing and seated) where you try not to flick away sweat or itch that scratch. Complete stillness.
So beyond that, why do I stick around to put myself in a hot room with strangers who wear next to nothing while flexing their bodies in various ways?
Bikram forces you to watch your diet.
There are certain rules
you need to follow in order to properly practice hot yoga. You cannot eat
before you go into the hot room otherwise you will find a lot of discomfort in the postures. You need to give yourself about 3 hours of
digestion time, so you really have to plan your day wisely. They say the goal
to a great body is 20% working out and 80% how you eat. That also includes how
frequently and how much you eat.
Bikram forces you to drink water.
Not a water drinker? Well, in order to practice Bikram, you need to be. You need to hydrate, hydrate,
hydrate! Drink water before you come
into the hot room and drink water after your practice. You lose buckets of sweat. Replenish your loss.
Bikram teaches you self-discipline.
This is something I write down in my gratitude journal frequently. I LOVE how much self-discipline this practice has given me. Since the instructor does not do
the poses while in the hot room because it is too hard for them to
explain how to do the poses and do the poses at the same time, you really have
to train yourself to listen to their every word and follow their instructions to a T.
While
in the 105-degree room, you are bound to sweat. You have to learn to just let
it go. If you try to wipe it away it will just make you hotter. Self-discipline
is mostly about respecting the others in the class. If you are off doing
something else, it is distracting to the other practicing members.
Bikram challenges you… A LOT.
Not a lot of people can handle
purposely putting their body in such insane conditions. Hot yoga will test your
limits and test them again. You will feel dizzy, you will feel tired, but you
will feel like a million bucks after it is over. That saying goes “no pain, no gain”, and this is 100% true when it comes to Bikram yoga.
Bikram is yoga practice, not yoga perfect.
Everyone in the room
is on a different level. It is not a
competition to see who can stretch the farthest or breath the loudest. You do
what is best for your body. You end up feeding off of your neighbor’s energy.
We all know there are days when the last thing you want to do is go exercise.
When the person next to you is having a strong practice, you are going to want
that too! Sometimes you give and sometimes you take.
Bikram makes you healthy (mentally and physically).
Bikram is 100% mind over matter. You develop that mentality in the room, you’ll practice it out of the room. You work every joint, bone and muscle on a cellular level. Fresh oxygenated blood is flowing all throughout your body and you open up some of your major joints. There have been miracle stories about this practice because this stuff works. Revitalizing and rejuvenating your body from the inside out.
Bikram makes you slow down.
We live in a time when everyone is
hustling and bustling along. Giving yourself those 90 minutes of bettering
your practice feels so rewarding. You are giving yourself time to not worry
about that text in your inbox or what you’re making for dinner when you get
home. Take your time in the room, and take your time winding down from your
practice as well.
Bikram hot yoga makes you… HOT.
Ninety minutes in a
sauna is bound to change up your skin tone and your body mass. You develop a yoga glow. As you
sweat your pores open up and your skin becomes extremely soft. It does wonders
for the epidermis. You come out feeling like a shiny new toy, maybe even
shinier than you’d like. *Wink*
You also burn anywhere fro, 430-720 calories PER CLASS. Talk about summer body ready.
Bikram makes you a total badass.
You feel a sense of accomplishment when you
tell someone you do hot yoga and they look at you and tell you “You’re
crazy.” Uh, yeah, that’s kind of the point.
If you’re looking to make a change in your workout regimen, I would 100% suggest Bikram. Do something out of your comfort zone and go somewhere you have never been. Read about my first Bikram experience here. It could not have been that bad. I mean, I keep going back for more!
