A post from my old Blog - Also not funny

Yoga: To perceive the constant union, unity, or copulation with the divine self in every breath, in every moment, in every activity, and in every achievement. Yoga is the way one can perceive divinity manifested in the whole universe as well as in the entire body.

Back last February I had a coworker take me to a Bikram Yoga class. I had done yoga before at our local gym but I had never experienced anything quite like this. I didn’t know what to expect so I wore my regular gym clothes, which consisted of capris and a baggy t-shirt – bad idea. We walked into the studio a bit late and so we hurriedly put our mats down in the back of the room. There were about 15 people in the class and then one big mirror in the front of the room. The first thing that you notice when you walk in is the temperature of the room. To be true Bikram Yoga – or Hot Yoga as it is sometimes called – the temperature in the room must hit 105 degrees – definitely hotter then your average fitness class.

Bikram is composed of 26 poses – or asanas – each of which are performed twice in sequence and held for what can feel like forever. The first half of the set is the standing poses and the second half is the floor poses. The goal of all of these poses is to stretch your muscles and release all of the toxins in your body. Even though there are other people in the room you only are supposed to concentrate on yourself – how can you compare yourself to your neighbor? You have two completely different bodies!

The very last pose is Shavasana – or the corpse pose. This is designed to quiet the mind and as my teacher says “Thoughts may come but don’t dwell on them. Let them run through you”. Your supposed to keep your eyes open and ‘stay present in the room’ but truthfully all I ever want to do is close my eyes and fall asleep.

By the end of the class you are absolutely pouring sweat. Seriously, stepping out of that class I feel as if I am stepping out of the shower – just not anywhere near as clean. But by the time I am home, showered and in bed I am really able to marvel at how good I feel. So, if you have the chance I would recommend trying Bikram Yoga. But go twice at least – I promise after the first time you will want to throw in the towel – this is the only way to get to know how truly wonderful Bikram is!