yoga

Today I had my first experience with yoga. While I've had an interest in yoga for awhile I just never managed to make the opportunity and try it. For Christmas Tom, one of the students at the pottery studio gave all of the instructors, including myself, a ten day trial pass to Bikram Yoga. Since school is out for the holiday I decided now was the time to try yoga and went to class this morning.

The Bikram studio is in Sugar House, my familiar stomping ground, and only about a five minute walk from the pottery studio. Class began at 9am and I arrived a few minutes early so I would be prepared. The people were friendly and walked me through signing in and once I changed my clothes I entered the practice room.

Bikram Yoga is a unique style of yoga in that the practice room is heated to about 104˚ with 60% relative humidity. When I first entered the studio it felt noticeably warmer but tolerable. Bikram Yoga is practiced in a heated room because the heat...

1. Enhances vasodilatation so that more blood is delivered to the muscles
2. Allows oxygen in the blood to detach from the hemoglobin more easily
3. Speeds up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids
4. Makes muscles more elastic and less susceptible to injury
5. Improves coordination
6. Reduces heart irregularities associated with sudden exercise
7. Burns fat more easily
8. Improves the function of the nervous system

While there are other benefits the aforementioned are some of the greatest.

Each class session lasts 90 minutes and during the course of the session twenty-six asana (or physical postures) series and two breathing exercises are practiced. This series of postures is "designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments, and tendons in the order in which they should be stretched." Ultimately the purpose of Bikram Yoga is to restore all bodily "systems to healthy working order" and practitioners will benefit from "proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being". (Read more on the benefits of yoga)

The practice of Bikram Yoga is demanding. Many of the postures are difficult to perform and are physically and mentally challenging. I was surprised by how active my heart was throughout some of the postures and how quickly my breathing could become erratic. To maintain control over my body and lower my heart rate I concentrated on breathing through my noise, keeping my breath steady and tried to build energy in my body to continue the series. Despite the challenges I managed well and tried my damnedest. While the heat was tolerable its effects quickly became apparent once we began our exercises. I believe I sweat more during the session they I've ever sweat in my life.

After class I felt fatigued from the heat but following a cold shower I was feeling great. My first experience with yoga went very well. I managed to do better than I had honestly expected. Though going into it I didn't know quite what to expect. Jennifer, the instructor, even paid me a nice compliment and said I had done well for my first time. When I left the studio I was feeling great, though hungry since I hadn't eaten breakfast and so I went off to get something to eat.

"Yoga is the toughest thing you'll love to do."
-- Tom, Bikram Yoga Instructor

Later on that day I found my way back to the Bikram studio for an evening class. After surviving my first class I decided a second time around couldn't hurt. Since I suffer from scoliosis, a lateral curvature of the spine (that is, my spine is bent sideways) I am hoping yoga will help. Although my spine is bent only slightly sideways I suffer from a chronically sore back as a result. While most of the time the soreness is tolerable and something I've learned to live with, being a potter aggravates the problem.

Tom was the instructor for the evening class and his class proved to be more intensive than Jennifer's had been that morning. Since I had been introduced to the postures that morning I approached my second class with a better understanding of what to do. During this session I really tried to push myself and attempted to go deeper into the postures. Tom encouraged everyone to reach and exceed their threshold and I pushed myself to get there.

While I hesitate to say my second yoga class was more difficult then the first, there were some marked differences between the two. During my first class I was new to the postures and learning them as we went. Because of this I wasn't able to push myself as much. Going into my first class I had just woken-up and was fully rested. By evening time I wasn't worn out, but I wasn't as rested as I had been in the morning and was slightly sore from my morning session. During the evening class the room also seemed warmer than in the morning, as if it had more time to warm-up during the day. Though perhaps I was only more sensitive to the temperature. Whatever the case both classes were great and I'm pleased to have finally taken the opportunity to try yoga.

Writing this now my chest, back, shoulders and neck are all sore. Having stretched, exercised and sweat during two classes for a combined time of three hours, the soreness doesn't surprise me. I will be interested to see how I feel in the morning. Tomorrow I am planning to attend the 8am class before work, so stay tuned for further updates!