A newbie's thoughts on bikram yoga

I've wanted to try bikram yoga for a really long time and for one reason or another never did. Until now! Dun dun DUN!

I'm currently a few days into a 30 day unlimited pass, and I'm trying to go as often as possible to get the most of my money. I've taken 5 classes in 5 days, and let me tell you something:

Bikram is no fucking joke.

Leading up to starting my 30 day pass I took a few regular yoga classes to get back into the swing of things, and even went to a regular hot yoga class with Lacey. I emerged from hot yoga sweaty (of course) but feeling good. I went into my first bikram class armed with a full nalgene and some words of advice from Heather, who has been doing bikram for years and recently completed teacher training. But nothing could have prepared me for those 90 minutes in 105 degree heat.

I made sure to take a first-timers only class because I wanted to be around people who were going to struggle as much as I was. During my first class I had to sit down on probably 5 different occasions because I was dizzy (but so did everyone else, so I wasn’t alone. The sweat was dripping down my arms and legs while we were still in the first posture, and by the end of the class I had sweat so much that I wondered whether or not it was possible for your internal organs to seep out your pores.

Just a few classes later, though, the improvement is noticeable. I haven't needed to sit and rest since class #2 (though I’m sure I will again because everyone has good days and bad days). I'm pushing myself to hold postures longer instead of just going with the urge to fall out of them. I haven't had a repeat of teachers yet, and each one offers something new in terms of instructions that helps me understand, little by little, what the posture is actually supposed to look like.

Of course, there are still some moments where I think to myself, "THIS IS FOR REAL SOMETHING I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO DO BECAUSE WHAT THE F AND WHO ARE THESE SUPERHUMAN BEINGS THAT CAN DO THIS?!?"

Here are some things I really like about bikram so far:

1. There are postures for everyone. Some involve an insane amount of strength. Some involve a lot of flexibility (these are my forte, in as much as you can have a forte at something you overall suck at). Some are probably easier if you're flat-chested and you don't have boobs getting in the way of trying to bring your knees to your chest. Some involve lying on the floor (this is enjoyable).

2. The post-bikram shower is the actual best feeling ever. Sort of like the feeling you get right after you vomit. You felt so awful and then all of a sudden it's over and it's like the heavens opened up and angels sprinkled some kind of happy dust on you and all is well with the world and you no longer want to die.

3. As far as I can tell, it's pretty unpretentious once you walk through those doors. No one really cares what anyone else is doing. Sure, some people are lightyears better than others but everyone just focuses on their own practice because when you're in heat like the depths of hell, you're ALL struggling and it's not a competition. Some people in my classes have been doing bikram for years and are on a kiss-on-the-cheek basis with our instructors. Yet even they still need to sit down and take a break sometimes.

So in short, I'm digging it. It’s too bad bikram is so expensive. Once my heavily-discounted 30 day pass is up, I hope to still take occasional classes, but in order to keep it up on a regular basis I would have to shell out a fair amount of money and between my gym membership (which includes volleyball), a separate Sunday volleyball league (which deserves its own post, for another day of course), and dodgeball/kickball, I’m pretty maxed out in my athletics budget.