Wednesday night Leslie and I decided to go to her Bikram studio for a class. I had tried Bikram in St Louis in November and left feeling a bit turned off. I liked the feeling afterwards, and enjoyed the stretching, but didn’t like being told when to drink water and lectured on being dehydrated and not sitting down when I felt like I was going to pass out (which was fairly frequently).
However, after talking with Leslie about her class, it seemed the atmosphere was a little more relaxed, though still officially a Bikram studio (there are certain rules, and all classes use the same series of 26 postures). After our races, we agreed a bit of yoga would be great to make our legs and bodies feel more normal, and we had plenty of time in the evening to attend a class.
The owner of the studio, Brooke, was teaching our class. She was wonderful! I sweated a ridiculous amount, but I loved feeling free to drink water when I wanted (I didn’t even drink that much), plus the instructor spoke calmly and in a relaxing voice, plus there was soothing music in the background. Occasionally she would open the doors to the outside to let in a little cool air, and there were ceiling fans as well. It was still VERY hot and my towel and clothing were soaked through.
Overall, I was able to get through most of the postures and only had to sit out a few. I enjoyed being able to do more of the class than I ever had, because I felt like I got more out of it. I wish this studio were closer.
I suppose I won’t rule out attending in St Louis again, though I see now that things can be a little different. Perhaps just knowing that would help me get through it—I do love what the sweaty 90 minutes does for my flexibility and skin!
Other activities in the day: lunch at La Condesa, coffee at Urban Beans, and a little shopping with my friend Karen. We also watched a bunch of episodes of Parks and Recreation on Netflix online…makes me want to become a Netflix subscriber again—maybe over the summer when I have more free time.
Unrelated: Let’s hope my flight goes out as scheduled—St. Louis is getting a bunch of snow, again. Evidently both of my schools had snow days (that means that the students I canceled for this trip…wouldn’t have had Thursday lessons anyway). I do hope I can get home safely and without much delay. I’ve had a wonderful time here, but I miss my home. I also have tons to catch up on, and my email inbox has 28 emails…I prefer to keep it on one screen rather than scrolling. I also can’t wait to get back to my regular workouts and cooking for myself. And of course I miss Chris and my cat.
Has anybody attended Bikram Yoga at more than one studio? Thoughts on different styles?
I love Bikram yoga! I think there are only two sanctioned studios in Kentucky. I’ve heard that a lot of Bikram people try to emulate Bikram himself, which I think is a mistake. I got his Bikram’s class on iTunes and he alternates between being stern and teasy. Anyhoo, there’s a studio about 30 minutes from me, where one instructor is very mild spoken and kind, and the other is more hard core. I like the mild version, where I’m encouraged to sit down if I’m dizzy. I mean, seriously…imagine what it would be like if someone actually barfed in a closed room at 104 degrees?
I hate camel pose…that always makes me nauseous.