I have, for the last few weeks, been doing a yoga vhs at home on my own. After reading of a friend joining and really enjoying it, I got the itch to try Bikram Yoga a couple of weeks ago. For those who do not know, Bikram Yoga is ‘hot’ yoga. The room is heated to 105 degrees F (about 41 C). I found a local class. My first practise was on last Tuesday.
It kicked my ass. 90 minutes of yoga alone might kick my ass. Add the heat, and the sweat was dripping off of me. I drank more than a litre of water during that 90 minutes - water that was, when I entered the studio, ice cold and somewhere around lukewarm when I finished it off.
That night, I did not feel stiff or sore, and I felt really calm and relaxed.
One of the other women at the studio said “it’s like an addiction. It kills me to do it, but as soon as I’m done I can’t stop thinking about when I can come back”. I heartily agree. I returned on Friday evening. Again with the ass-kicking.
I plan to return to the studio at least once a week, hopefully twice if time will allow.
Have you ever done hot yoga? What about any other type of yoga? What did you think of it? How did it help you?
Hysterical…I just started bikram yoga (I believe I stated I was going to start in the relevant thread). Right now I’m on the $20 for unlimited 1 week pass to get “hooked”-which I completely am. I go once a day but I don’t want to give up my cardiovascular so I’m probably going to reduce that to 30 to 40 minutes a day and do the 90 minute yoga in the morning.
Oh good God! My wife and I do Baptiste Yoga and HOLY SWEET JEEZUS I have not sweat so much in my life! After the first few sessions my ol’bones limbered up a little and I felt much better! :smack: boy those first few times I was one hurt’in unit. But we found a nice Yoga Shalla near where we live and we are having alot of fun with it. Keep up the good work!
I have done yoga on my own with a DVD (AM/PM Yoga) and in a very gentle beginner’s class. I credit yoga with loosening up my short hamstrings, to the point where I can’t really say I have short hamstrings anymore, and giving me the ability to relax my mind and body enough to basically sleep anywhere.
I’ve drifted away from it over the summer because I’ve been too busy, which is stupid, because
of course you need the benefits most when you’re stressed out.
I’m interested in maybe getting into something more advanced. The class I took had a slight increase in the challenge level over the course of the semester, and I really liked the more complex, pretzel-y stuff we did at the end, but it was also supposed to be friendly to drop-ins, so it was never particularly rigorous.
I have two separate tapes of AM Yoga and PM Yoga. Got 'em at a thrift for $1 each. I figured if they sucked, I was only out a couple of dollars. I’ve also got the “Yoga For Dummies” DVD, which is packed somewhere (damn it all).
anu-la: My introductory class was $15.00 with a second class free. The fee is normally $15 per session here - what are your fees like?
Then if you sign up after that you get some sort of introductory offer
generally it’s $120 for 10 classes and then you can buy a 30-class pass etc. etc. but if you sign up after the first week you get 12 classes for $120.
I think I’m going to do that 12 class offer and then switch over to the monthly unlimited for $150. It’s only $30 more than the 10 class pass and I much prefer doing bikram in the morning than lacing up my shoes and going to the gym.
I pay separate L.A. Fitness fees, though. So it’s cheap but I have to add it to my regular gym fees.
I like 'em. I like the AM part, with Rodney Yee, best, but it was the PM with Patrica Whalden that really lengthened my hamstrings.
Once I got over the urge to laugh hysterically or get angry and throw things when she says (at two different points in the session, IIRC) “Relax as you lower your forehead to rest on your [unbent] knee,” I made much more progress.
I prefer Hatha Yoga, although I’ve also done Kundalini. I had a really great studio in Vancouver where I paid about $8/class for an hour and a half session, followed by tea and cookies.
Nowadays I mostly follow Rodney Yee’s book (Moving toward balance or something). When I remember… and my hamstrings let me know when I’ve been lazy. Which is probably because I don’t get tea and cookies after my practice. But within a few days, I can reach my toes again (which is really sad as an accomplishment, because my legs are short compared to my torso).
I have never done Bikram because the very idea strikes me as kooky. Work out? In an oven? rrrriiiggghhtttt… I’ll stick to holding poses for several minutes at regular room temperature, thank you very much.
But the cutest thing? My daughter has a book called “Urban babies wear black.” When we get to the line “urban babies do yoga” my daughter lifts up her arms and stretches. Every time
My husband and I take a class in anusara yoga once a week. The classes are $11 each for an eight-week term. It’s a huge work-out for us, and we’re in the rank beginner class. We feel like we’ve been hit by the yoga-truck and we love it!
I just got back from a Bikram class half an hour ago. Bikram, by the way, is a type of hatha yoga. I even started a Bikram thread a couple of weeks ago and it was a total flop. Anyway, I have been taking two Bikram classes a week for almost a year, with the exception of a three week break when I tore a hamstring in January. I love it but it does take a lot out of you.
I still don’t consider myself to be very good at it but my progress has been amazing over the year. I have gone from a total disaster to better than average. I feel a lot better day to day since I have started my “practice.” I no longer drink soda and drink way more water during the day. The pinched nerve in my neck is no longer pinched or at least hasn’t bothered me in months. I’m way stronger and feel better and look better.
Damn. Can you tell that I still have the endorphins going from class.
One more thing. You really should buy Bikram’s book. They sell it for $20 at the studios. It will really help you with your poses. You’ll pick up little things that you might miss in class. Also, pay close attention to your breathing and listen to the dialogue. It’s much better to do a pose correctly then to go very deep into a pose incorrectly.
Hey! You’re the guy from Montreal who rides a bike everywhere. Isn’t that working out in an oven? And there’s humidity, too (says the prairie girl, whence there is no humidity EVER)!
That’s just the cutest damned thing!
They do mom and kid yoga classes around here. When the baby is a bit older I may look into it.
hajario, do you start looking forward to going back right when you leave?
I should also like to proudly state that Eagle Pose poses (ha!) no problem for me. After the first class, I went home and told Dave there was no way in hell I would ever be able to do it… and then did it next class.
I found a brand new-in-box yoga mat on eBay for $6.99. Beats the heck out of the $20-$50 I’ve been finding around town.
I’ve been doing Bikram Yoga for almost two years. I just love it. I started going twice a week, then kept adding days. Then, they had challenges. I ended up going 60 days in a row. (While working full-time.) The saying: you make time for things that are important to you is correct.
Now I practice 5-6 days per week and my 12 year old daughter is just starting.
Yoga has helped me in so many ways. I’m a calmer person. The pranyama breathing has made it super easy for me to breathe deeply…any time I want to. (I guess you’d call it increased lung capacity.) I have changed my diet…to one with little processed and fast food, lots of fresh veggies and fruits…and I’m now a vegetarian. I’ve also met a lot of nice people (fellow yogis!)
When you say Bikram yoga is a tough work out, people don’t believe you until they try it.
I also found that when I first started, I only heard parts of the dialogue…you hear more and more and incorporate it later. A good teacher will correct you and give you the basics at the beginning and as your practice improves, you will go deeper into the poses. Luckily, the teachers I’ve encountered here are awesome, but some I’ve had in another city were less so.
I wouldn’t go that far but I do get antsy if it’s been more than a few days between classes. I take typically take a Wednesday evening class and one class on the weekends. Some classes will be better than others, you won’t always feel great after class is over but you will keep wanting to go back.
I did something that really helped a lot after a few months of practice. One of the friends that I made in class and I took a semi-private class from one of the instructors. We took it about a half hour after a normal class. We went through each posture one time and he gave us individual help on where we need to improve. It was $50 each and money well spent.
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the board (about a million times), I follow the Weight Watchers plan. When I looked up the activity points, it came out to 13 (based on my weight and 90 minute class).
To put that in perspective, I am allowed to eat 24 points a day. That’s roughly 1200 calories. 13 activity points = 1300 calories.
