beastieBoys

Bikram Yoga Experiment Blog

 

Day 1


I had my class at 9am in the morning with Jordan. I was unable to focus on Jordan’s deep voice, which seemed to blend into the same sound as the room noise.


I liked how Jordan used carpol tunnel syndrome and overusing a blackberry to motivate us to hyperflex our wrists and elbows in one of the postures. Analogies to everyday life stuff is very good for motivation.


The rest of the day I had to work a wedding. I was full of energy and an amazing positive vibe. Even though my friend told me I was skinny as a stick, I felt very confident about things and I was able to connect with a lot of people.


Day 2


Tanya was the instructor and what a difference. I know there are some people that criticize Bikram Yoga for using a script, but this is all bullshit. Tanya’s words were so much more different than Jordan, it was almost like taking a completely different class. My favorite thing is when the instructors use different analogies to explain the benefits of certain postures. Tanya reffered to the posture your grandma always told you about to try harder during a certain posture. These analogies actually get me thinking about some benefits that push me to do the posture harder.


Then I panicked. I lost my breath about 20 minutes before class ended and I had to leave the room. I know that may sound like I am a bit of a baby, but when your feet are constantly cramping and your whole body goes into pins and needles, I don't mind looking like a baby.


The girls outside fed me coconut water and electrolytes  and I was able to get back into the class for the last 5 minutes. Thanks Tanya... you really kicked the shinickies out of me!


Day 3


Wow what a difference. I ate Indian food for breakfast. Indian food for dinner about 90 minutes before my class. My friend told me that I was crazy for eating right before class, but I have to say… I was stronger haven eaten.


Cedric was the teacher and he does a lot of different things. He likes to use one person to demonstrate really good form. He breaks the rules and sometimes he’ll focus on certain things more.


I had some funny observations today afterwards. I actually felt my core flexing while I was doing the dishes lifting a heavy pot. 3 days of yoga back to back and I’m already scrubbing dishes like a champion.


OK today, I bought 4 pairs of ladies yoga pants in Chinatown. They were black and I was cutting them up into shorts so I could have more yoga wear throughout my 90 day experiment. Hahaha, laugh it out. But seriously, I was picking out the stitching of the logo so no one would know they were ladies pants, and it was really frustrating.


However after yoga, I had one pair of pants left to unstitch and I couldn’t believe my focus. It became a relief. I was picking out each stitch one at a time with perfect breathing and no frustration. Before, I was sporadically picking out the stitches with no method thinking it was just really hard to do. After yoga… it was easy. I finished taking out the stitches in half the time it originally took me… thanks to the breathing and patience of enjoying to take out each individual stitch.


Day 4


A plate of pasta sat at the bottom of my stomach like a lump of glue... oh wait... that's exactly what a plate of pasta is. Time to change your diet dude!


My second class with Cedric was good and bad. I was stronger than ever. It was the first time where I was able to do Standing Bow and see my foot come over my head in the mirror. However, I was in a class full of people and some beginners. I had less attention from Cedric and therefore less advice. I knew that I forgot some things and I wasn’t doing some of the postures correctly.

 

Whatever. It will come.


Day 5


What a class with Jacob. He uses so many analogies and references to get the message through: James Bond, Flava Flav’s, Cheap Trick... Jesus. Now that would be a fun party.


He explained how Bikram came here from India and moved yoga into the heat because it was injuring everyone. The heat allows you to go further without injury.He also explained that Bikram yoga is the only yoga that isn’t kind and sweet, but it tells you the straight up truth if you’re half-assing it.


I loved how he told the class to smile and not to take it so seriously.


The standing T demo he did was awesome. It made it clear to me what you are supposed to do to get maximum benefit out of this postures. And with that I learned how to hold my balance longer. Creating the tug of war within your body really helps find the mid point.

 

Day 6


Wow a lot of people in tonight’s 7:45 at Kits. I think that helped me notice the smell for the very first time.


OK today was with Danny, one of the owners of the studio. He mentions to focus on perfect posture rather than getting maximum distance in bad posture. That really helped. My postures were all 100% better because of those words right at the beginning of the class.

 

Danny uses visualizations like "alligators biting your toes" to help motivate to keep your foot up, "someone pulling your hair from the ceiling" to lengthen your body, "admire a painting on the floor" for proper head position. My favorite visual was how Danny described the King Cobra's tail to tighten up my legs into one solid piece.


During the camel posture my feet started to cramp up on me… again. Danny didn’t like this and he immediately got me a coconut water. He doesn’t think I’m getting enough electrolytes. After class he told me to try eating "rock salt" on my food.

 

Day 7


Today was a very interesting day. I got the flu during the night. I was feeling extremely bloated from the food I had ate the day before and I couldn't sleep. I knew right away that this is similar to what had happened to my friend who had caught the flu from her parents a couple of days before. So I knew what was coming... fever... throwing up... body ache... yikes! Well, I drank a green smoothie early in the morning and I slept it off throughout the day. By the night time I was able to go to my Big Sugar concert and witness a full 12-man mariachi band jam with Gordie Johnson to one of my favorite songs... "turn the lights on".

 

Did the previous 6 days of yoga help me get over the flu that quickly or was it that magic green smoothie? BTW it was a recipe from Lovena's Indigo Food Cafe (1 cup spinach, 1 cup lettuce, 1/2 pineapple, 1 cup mango juice, 1 cup water, 1 banana). She has a DVD where she teaches her amazing recipes for Raw Vegan Sugar-free food!