Even though I was in my 7th Bikram Yoga class, I was used to being the worst student regardless of the studio. In this class, though, the instructor kept correcting someone named Paul. So I'm thinking to myself, "Hey, there's actually someone in this class who is worse than me". But then the instructor came over and asked, "Your name is Paul, isn't it?"
For those of you not familiar with Bikram, it's a 90 minute session of 26 yoga poses done in rapid procession in 105 F heat. It's a grueling class that founder, Yogiaj Bikram Choudhury describes as a "torture chamber". Art, who introduced me to Bikram says he loses about 6 lbs. per session just in sweat (and he probably weighs under 150 lbs to start).
As crazy as this whole thing sounds, Bikram yoga is the fastest-growing yoga in the world, and it seems to do some wild things. My brother started liking to cook. My son started to work out regularly after his first class. Art didn't need to sleep as much. My wife toned up amazingly quickly. And me, I got all of these benefits and more (except for the cooking thing) including allergy relief - probably from sweating out all the allergens. And as inflexible as I am, I've gotten a lot better since starting Bikram 6 months ago, even though I've only managed to squeeze in 36 classes (I track everything). Getting more flexible makes me feel a lot younger, even though I was never that flexible to start. I think Bikram yoga also brings back fond memories of my heated high school wrestling room.
Bikram himself is teaching an advanced week course geared to instructors in Palm Desert next month with 2 sessions per day. The owner of our favorite Bikram yoga studio is encouraging me to go. "You will be the worst student in the whole class," she said in her Chinese accent. "But Bikram will single you out and give you special attention". Little does she know I hate special attention - for one thing it's harder for me to sluff off. But what the heck, I'm going anyway.
There's more to Bikram Yoga than just losing the extra pounds inside a hot room. Now that you've pointed out its benefits on your family, we can best say that the classes really helped you a lot. And, I don't think you're the worst student. Maybe you need some more internalization. By now, you must have felt how class has affected your well-being.
Posted by: Cleo Pascal | 04/14/2011 at 02:28 AM