| After your first Bikram class, what was your impression? |
What drives you to continue to practice? What keeps bringing you back? |
| This is so f-ing hard. Why is the room so f-ing hot. How come the instructor isn't doing the yoga with us? God, I look fat in that mirror.... I need some new yoga clothes.... That person in the front row is showing off.... I can't wait til this is over.... yeah, right come back tomorrow, every day? are you insane? Okay, I'm lying down now, not so bad... you want me to put my arms underneath me with my hands face down, what kind of bullshit is this? That is just unnatural... oh, I get to lie down again, this isn't so bad... she turned the heater off... phew... it's over... I made it? I think I almost could have died. Nice music.... nice reading.... namaste. |
There really isn't another therapy where you have to look at yourself in the mirror for 90 minutes and be quiet and not make any judgments about yourself. In that process alone, you find peace, acceptance and gratitude for just being able to breathe. You realize that not only physically you are getting stronger, but also emotionally, and spiritually. You form a connection to self. And with that connection you become more connected to everything and everybody around you. Did I mention the sweat? Love it. |
What are some of the benefits and changes you've seen in yourself?
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What is your favorite posture in the series and why? |
| I am more grounded. I am more able to calm down in the midst of fear, anger, or any of those other emotions that can get your heart racing. My posture is remarkably improved. I am more fit. I like myself more than before. |
Camel. It is the most difficult one for me in terms of how it makes me feel. I discretely allows me to go to my emotional edge. It has made me stronger than I ever thought I could be. I can feel my heart opening when I do it and that feels really scary but at the same time it makes me feels really awesome.
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| What is your greatest challenge about the yoga? Yourself? |
What advice can you give to a 1st timer after they complete the class? |
I am hard on myself. The yoga is hard for me because I can't muscle my way through it. It forces me to accept where I am in that moment. To be forgiving. This parallels the way I go through life. It requires stillness and with that comes balance.
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Don't judge yourself. Let it go. Come back and you will see that even the second class will be a completely different experience. That is the best part. The postures may be the same, but the experience is never the same. The experience is often what you needed to learn in that moment. |
| Is there anything you would like to add? |
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The teachers are great. They each come at it with their own personalities. Best of all they are teachers who leave their egos at the door. They don't put themselves on a higher level. They are right there with everyone in the room. It keeps it all together. It's amazing. We are so lucky to have all of you. Thank you.
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