Since finishing my 30 day challenge on May 1, I practiced occasionally for a week (class on 5/3 and 5/7) and then have been trying to get back to a daily pratice. Today was my 4th day in a row of being back on my mat. So yay! If I was doing another 30 day challenge (don't worry - I'm not!), I would be more than 10% done :)
I had a hellish class tonight. I was putting off going to class. Didn't make it for the 4pm. Saw that I wasn't going to make it for the 6pm... so I ate an Amy's Cheese Tamale Verde around 5:45pm. Total amateur mistake! WHAT WAS I THINKING?!? Ok, I wasn't thinking and I think I might have been trying to give myself an excuse to skip the 8pm class. But I didn't skip class. And as I was driving to class, I was rocking out to the Kings of Leon and thinking that maybe life isn't so bad. And class even started out good. I did what I think was my best pranayama breathing ever. All of the pieces of the dialogue seemed to make sense. And then during awkward, it all went downhill. I started to feel really gross. My stomach hurt and I felt like I couldn't breathe. Yes, the room was hot, but it was more like it felt like there wasn't any oxygen. I read an article from the Trib a while back and one of the comments mentioned lack of oxygen in Bikram studios. Not sure if there is any factual basis to back that up, but tonight was hell for most of the class. I practiced a lot of savasana and felt like I couldn't breathe normally.
During the official savasana before wind removing pose, the instructor told a funny story. He said that the heat of the room may be uncomfortable sometimes but that ayurveda says that it's very healthy for the skin to sweat. He said that one of the owners of the studio said that some yogis think it's better for your skin to shower before class and then just let the sweat evaporate after class because it will make your skin really nice and soft. He suggested that we all try it for a few months! Umm yeah, I'm sure that would make me really popular around town.
That made me think of another thing one of the instructors said a few weeks ago. I just realized that I didn't post it here on the blog - I just told a bunch of my friends about it. One of the instructors said that we shouldn't skip the final savasana after kapalbhati breathing because it's one of the most important parts of the class. She said that one of her instructors said that doing Bikram yoga without the final savasana is like having sex without an orgasm.
And with that, I will end tonight's Bikram ramblings...
6 comments:
Hee - I'll give you another one - Bikram says skipping final savasana is like going to the toilet and not wiping your ass. It is THAT important!
Not a teacher, but I practice nearly every day and I often don't shower after class anymore. I'm sweating out (what LOOKS like) my own body weight in class and it's basically just nice clean water - like taking a shower from the inside out. Honest!! :)
Good job on plugging through that class... the only way out is THROUGH, even when it SUCKS!!
Thanks for the fun Bikram-ism re: final savasana.
Are you on Twitter? There is a Bikram yogi on Twitter who is at teacher training right now (http://twitter.com/yogaballs) and his tweets are cracking me up!
But you would shower before going to work or out with friends or something, right? I think what he was referring to serious yogis (in India, not Bikram people in the U.S.) who would not shower except before yoga. I don't think I wrote my post clearly - I'm tired!!!
Yeah, leaving the room isn't an option so I guess once you've rolled out your mat, you're kinda stuck even when you feel really gross!
the reason why the final savasana is important is because that's when your body absorbs all the positive effects of the last 90 minutes! the longer you can stay in it, the better!
m~
you're being too serious! yes, that's the *real* reason for the final savasana, but let's enjoy the funny explanation, k?
Oh nooo, don't suck me into twitter, I'm already bad enough with my facebook addiction and now my blogging addiction! I gotta cut BACK! (It's clearly not working out that way.)
Agreed, I would usually shower before work. Going out with friends... well depends on where we're going, and depends on the friends! Hehe.
one of my instructors likes to say that leaving before kapulbati breathing is like not flushing the toilet after you go!
i think i like the sex analogy better.
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