Bikram Yoga = calorie burning/sweat box

This morning was the first time I have ever done yoga, let alone yoga in an incredibly hot room.  Swink and I have been work out buddies for the past few weeks and have really been trying to do different things and just have fun with it.  We had heard of a deal at a local Bikram Yoga facility -- 10 straight days for $20.  Even if we only went twice it would totally be worth it, we figured.  ( a normal session costs on average $15-$20 per visit).  So we set our alarms, grabbed towels, filled up our water bottles and headed out for our 6:45 AM class.  Bikram Yoga was well .... an experience.


Bikram Yoga is named after its founder - Bikram Choudhury, who studied Yoga with Bishnu Ghosh.  It is a specific sequence of 26 yoga poses performed in a room with temperature of at least 105 degrees Fahrenheit which allows muscles to get warmed up quickly, enabling deeper stretching which lessens the chance of injury. Each Yoga Pose was performed twice and held for a certain period of time.  It’s the amount of calories burned in Bikram Yoga that makes this type of yoga so popular though.  I entered in some information about my weight and the length of time we exercised... in just 90 minutes, I burned just under 900 calories.  I couldn't believe it.  Bikram yoga is thought to be one of the best ways to clense you bodies of toxins.  Your skin is one of the best waste disposal systems in nature.  While it is different from your waste-extraction organs like kidneys or livers, your skin is an equally effective organ for removing waster, especially toxic wastes.  It does this through sweat -- that's why Bikram Yoga provides the perfect way for 'detoxification' to happen. 


The class was intimidating.  I was placed between two, what I would call 'advanced' yoga goers and was shown up on EVERY single pose.  I couldn't believe how hot it was, how much I was sweating, I could barely understand what the instructor was yelling at us, how thirsty I was oh and did I mention how hot it was?  I noticed that the instructor would open the door for a quick second, or crack the window just a bit to let some cooler air in but never once did I get any of that air my way.  Next time.. I'm plopping myself right next to the door.  You could tell we were beginners but I didn't feel judged at all.  If I wasn't doing something right, our instructor would come over and help me get the correct form.


Sometimes I couldn't really understand our instructor, he talked really quickly.  It was kind of funny when he kept picking on the two of us.. telling swink ' I see you are not as flexible as your friend Katie' and telling me things like 'us skinny people ((did i mention he was probably about 80 pounds at most?)) us skinny people, we make our hands touch -- now touch!' I pushed my physical boundaries further than I have in a long time and it was cool to see what my body could do - especially under such extremes.


Lessons for next time:  I will bring more (possible frozen) water, bring another towel, strategically place myself next to a door and drink more water the night before.  All in all, my first session was a good experience and something I'm looking forward to doing again, if not for the sweat then for all the calories I'll be burning!