Enter Bikram Yoga. As I said, my first class was on Sunday. Jen suggested we go to the 12 noon class, so we could squeeze an early breakfast in before 9. She was lucky that I had gotten the party mode out of my system on Friday night, and was too tired to do any of that on Saturday night. Hence, 9 am breakfast was not difficult on Sunday morning! We went to the beautiful Bikram studio in Fairfax, very posh and clean, yet serene. Every one here has the yoga body of my dreams and I feel over-dressed in my t-shirt and shorts. Lol, how dare I wear an actual shirt? I am not yet at the point where I'd be comfortable in a sports bra and booty yoga shorts, but, damn, I hope to one day be that confident!
Class was intense! The room was 105 degrees, and I felt like my body was going to burst into flame! I distinctly remember a point in class when I realized that I wasn't even sweating anymore; my face was just burning. I instantly regretted my Galentines drinking escapade on Friday night and cursed myself for not drinking buckets of water all day on Saturday, when I knew I was coming here today! I felt nauseous, hot, and every pose was making me more and more pissed off! I caught myself making faces in the mirror when I stopped in the middle of a pose and watched the hot girl in front of me with disdain.
What is funny about this class, is that the heat is so oppressive, that my mind did not wander. Typically, when I am in a quiet space (i.e. libraries, church, class, yoga) my mind goes everywhere. But here all I could concentrate on was how my body felt while executing each pose. Ironically, as my mind shuts up, the Bikram instructor just keeps going and going with her chatter. I hear how to properly perform the pose, what my body should be feeling if I am doing it correctly, how to correct my body to make the pose more intense, what I should be eventually aiming to do (one day your forehead will touch your feet), and what this pose is supposedly doing for my body (like massaging my pancreas or ascending colon). I appreciated that, and even in a room of 60+ people, I was completely focused on my moves and how to get my body to do what I say.
In the past, I have taken many dance, aerobics, group fitness, and yoga classes, even Hot Vinyasa. I have always been fairly flexible and able to control my body movements well. This first class wasn't as difficult for me pose-wise as it was to get through the heat! I was able to do most of the poses successfully. Especially since you get two chances at them. Back bends and the tip-toe Awkward poses were difficult for me, but the heat really made the other poses doable, as my muscles were more willing to extend. I realized early in the class that I shouldn't ever chug my water because it makes the next few poses even more nauseating (and gassy, good Lord). As uncomfortable as it was, I was not aware of the time in the least. 90 minutes passed so quickly that I was shocked when it was over (that's it?). Where were the planks, and downward dog, and headstands? I never asked anyone, but my guess is that it would make the yogi pass out in 2 seconds.
After class I was shocked at how great I felt! I was so proud to have finished the class! The lavender soaked cold towel the studio handed out at the final savasana felt like Heaven, and it did the trick to get rid of my exhausted red-face. In the car, I was surprised at how energetic I was, ignoring how drenched my clothes were even though I had changed my shirt before I left the studio. I wasn't ravenous, though I was craving some cold iceberg lettuce.
No comments:
Post a Comment