Bikram Practice Log

Coffee and the Hip

This week I’ve done my Bikram practice on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  Tuesday I did Shala’s “Dynamic Flow” class at AYC.

I definitely feel like I was working through something last month when I was so incredibly hot and felt like I was going to barf in every class.  Things are better now.  I think there are a lot of reasons for it, but one of the most effectice is simply not drinking coffee beforehand.  I’m usually up before 7, so if I have a 9AM practice, it’s hard not to drink at least one cup.  Everyone else is doing it!!!

But for the last couple of days we haven’t had any joe in the house.  We ran out.  And I’m a notorious flake and keep forgetting to go get more.  (You’d think that, working from home, I’d want to get out more).  With no coffee, I’ve felt stronger and less like I’m going to let loose with some of last night’s dinner.

So now that I feel better, I’m getting a little stronger and starting to push myself a bit more.  I’m more flexible than I’ve ever been.  I can touch my face to my legs below my knees, and go way back, all the way back, fall back in half moon.

But all of this flexibility seems to have stirred up some old hip injury.  My left hip is tight, extending down into my IT band, making my knee sore during tree and toe stand.  Still, toe stand eludes me on the left leg.  I think it’s all related.  It usually is.

Flow and Change

Yesterday I took a “Flow Yoga” class at Asheville Yoga Center.  I branch out about once a month if I’m not feeling up for a full-on Bikram class.  My stomach was bothering me and I just didn’t feel prepared for 90 minutes of heat.

Shala’s class at AYC was still quite challenging, the heat was around 85 degrees - nothing like Bikram’s classes, but still warm.  I sweated.  I think that after doing Bikram for about 6 months now, my pores are predisposed to open up the minute I put my hands together in prayer.  It makes saying grace at dinner awkward.

It’s nice to do something different for a change.  A new teacher.  Other students I don’t know.  Setting up in the back of the room because I’m new.

Some people complain that Bikram’s series is so ridgid.  “How can you do the same 26 postures over and over again?”  The truth is, I don’t have even 1 of those 26 exactly right yet.  Why move on?  Going through the moves from class yesterday, I know my alignment was off or I just wasn’t getting things right from time to time.  I wanted the teacher to say things like, “your forehead must be touching your knee - the posture doesn’t start until your forehead touches your knee”.  That way, I’d know exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

It’s funny.  Just yesterday I was reading someone’s complaint about Bikram yoga.  Their beef was that the teachers don’t give individual instruction.  While I don’t think that’s really true; suppose it is.  Even without one-on-one help, in Bikram’s practice, I hear the same very specific sequence of instructions every time I go to class.  If I just listen carefully every time, I’ll learn something new each time I do the posture.

Yesterday, I just felt like I was floundering.  Do I look at my hand during side angle stretch - or the ceiling?  And I’m pretty sure some of the postures we were doing were just made up and weren’t really yoga.  But I dunno.

So, as refreshing as it is to go to other studios around town on occasion, it’s definitely nice to come home to my Bikram studio.  And I know that progress comes with repetition of the dialog, regardless of whether or not the instructor addresses me.

Two Days, Two Kinds of Heat

At the studio where I practice, I’ve been feeling like the humidity plays a huge role in how I feel as the class progresses.  This week, it really hit home when I did my first silent practice.  On Monday at noon, there were only 3 people in the class and one of them was an instructor.  So, Adi who was leading asked if we’d mind a silent class so she could practice too.  Wow.  I’d never done that before and it was really amazing.

I had a lot of energy that followed me all through class and the rest of the day.  I never once felt dizzy or over heated or tired, and I didn’t sweat all that much.  But I don’t really think it was the silence that was responsible.  Instead it was the humidity.  A studio with only 4 people practicing is a lot less humid than the same space with 30 people.

Yesterday - the day after my excellent silent practice - it was killer.  The class was still small, but 4x as big as Monday.  There were about 15 people and the room was humid the moment I walked in.  I could feel it.  As I often do, I struggled a lot.  I was hot and sweating by Half Moon, and it just went on from there.  I completely soaked a YogiToes towel in the standing series.  Before we did the first Savasana, I put another towel on top of the YogiToes and still it was soaked through after the floor series.

So, I have decided that I can’t really control the room.  I can’t control the heat or the humidity or how many people are in the class, or even where I put my mat - since I’m often getting there at the last minute.  All I can control is my bulldog determination and my willingness to just be.

Imaginary Double Double

Yesterday I took the morning class and felt like I could do a double right after it was over with.  This is amazing because I’ve never felt that way before.  For the last month or so I’ve been really struggling hard with the heat and humidity.  But I had no problems in yesterday’s morning class.

So, this morning, I got up early for the 6:30 AM and the same thing happened.  I wanted to do a double right after it was over with.

All through practice I felt great. I started out a little stiff, and I’m never as flexible in the early morning, so it took a while for me to loosen up.  And to be honest, my standing series wasn’t great.  My locked out leg was strong, solid, unbroken, one piece, like a lamp post.  I just kept losing my balance.  Maybe I was still waking up.

But I seem to have come to a new level in my practice.  While still feeling a bit off balance, I managed to stay in a pretty decent dandayamana dhanurasana (standing bow) standing on my right leg in the second set for the full 30 seconds - left foot over my head in the mirror, right hand pointed at my forehead.  I have yet to hold either side for 60 in the first set, but even holding the second set without falling out is a big step forward for me.

I got stronger and stronger as the class progressed.  By the end of the floor series I was litterally bounding up after each savasana into the next pose.  By ustrasana (camel) I was feeling incredibly strong and flexible.  This is particularly remarkable because that early in the morning I am usually stiff regardless of how the heat is affecting me.  But this morning in camel, I let my hands move from my heels, down the soles of my feet, then my palms rested flat on the floor, fingers pointed backwards.  I lifted my chest, arched my entire spine, and saw the back of my mat.  I saw the back of my mat.  Wow.

Sasangasana (rabbit) was good, as it usually is. Then stretching, twisting, breathing for the last 3 postures flew by.  I felt like I could do a double immediately after - of course I didn’t.  I’ve never done that before, and doubt I’d just do it on a whim.  And in any case, I have to work! So I just felt great, came home had a bagel and started my day.