Today, at 9am this morning, I took my first class of Bikram yoga at the studio in Westminster, Colorado. And I can honestly say that it was vastly interesting. I completely forgot to bring a mat and towel, but the people there were kind enough to lend me one for my first class. (Mental note of things to bring: mat and towel.) I also barely had enough water to keep me well hydrated during class. I walked into the classroom and I have to say that although it wasn’t terribly, excruciatingly hot (compared to what I got used to in Texas) it was something to contend with when you are doing major and horribly invasive exercises when you were basically just a computer nerd with absolutely no adeptness at Physical Education or sports in general. Shit, even walking around Sloan’s Lake once had me winded, tired and panting for energy. But I thought that this would definitely help me out with my weight loss so I was not about to be discouraged now.
I walked in the door and I realized, okay, glasses are not going to work in here since they are obviously going to fog up. And there were a few other people there as well, who have made the pilgrimage to the middle-of-nowhere Westminster, Colorado. I made the pilgrimage because well, the studio I picked was affordable, I could get to it on public transit without TOO much difficulty and because of the fact that they had a special for first-timers that made the class about $50 for the first month and if you could do 25 classes in a month, you would get the next month for $50. After that, it would be about $92 a month if you were willing to commit to a year of Bikram yoga, with month-to-month payments (but paying for a whole year at $995 is even cheaper).
But anyway, it started off quite hard - but wasn’t this what I expected, what I came for, what I was hoping for? Someone to push me so hard, the fat would literally melt off in the places I didn’t want it and to be rewarded for my efforts as time goes on with better health, flexibility and more fitting clothes? Isn’t this what I wanted and isn’t this the length I truly wanted to go for this? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I knew practice was hard and it would not be a good idea to make it any easier on me just because I was a beginner. But even though many of the MODIFIED versions of these postures for beginners were quite painful and difficult to do. I grew tired and weary half-way towards the class to the point where I thought I could not go on. I was told that if I could not do anything more, it would be okay to sit in the room - but it was absolutely necessary that I stay in the room for the whole 90 minutes. And I felt it too, because at the very least, I would be able to sweat quite a few more toxins out of my body - which is one of the benefits of Bikram yoga.
But about 5 or 10 minutes later, I had a second wind and I was doing the asanas again. I believe that it was ultimately due to their nature of being asanas where you had to lie down but it helped strengthen my morale and get me to the point where I would possibly get back to doing the regular asanas. I was glad that I had this second wind because of the fact that I felt like a complete failure and I felt like I had completely ruined the class for myself. But no, I am just a beginner and like a woman in the class said, I would be lucky if I got the asanas right at 20 classes - why should I really be hard on myself because I can’t get it right at 1? And halfway through, my mind started to go completely blank. I lost my connection with the small self and became a part of all that is. This made it much easier to go on and complete the 90 minute routine. Eventually, before I knew it, this class was over and I had achieved a lot - I STAYED ALIVE AND IN THE CLASSROOM!
I am finally starting to get an idea of what Bikram meant when he said on 60 minutes, “Welcome to Bikram’s Torture Chamber, where you will kill yourself for the next 90 minutes!” It is figuratively pushing yourself further than you ever have and you have a person willing to help you do so. With this and the confidence of having other people who have had similar or more serious ailments, I believe that this is what makes people come to Bikram yoga. Because something needs to be done and this is a controlled environment where you can give them a certain amount of money (membership fees) and time (at least 90 minutes a day, if you are really willing to do it this way) to push you. I want to get a Bikram teacher certification not because I have certain delusions about my abilities or anything like that, but because I want to get so good, I want to disseminate the hell out of this stuff! It made me feel good for most of today and I haven’t had any pains from the session since. ^_^
