Bikram Yoga

So I have been practicing yoga regularly for the past couple of years and really enjoy the benefits I get from it. As well as being an excellent exercise it also helps me to clear my mind of all of the stress accumulated from everyday life. Well this past week I was searching online for a yoga studio here in Northampton where I could sort of 'get away' from campus and my studies. I found a really great price for intro classes at the Bikram Yoga studio and started looking more into the type of yoga they teach.

What I discovered is that Bikram Yoga is practiced in a 104 degree room. The classes last for 90 minutes and there are a series of 26 poses that we do each time. Most of the poses are not as challenging as the yoga I've done before, but because of the heat and humidity, the poses are more intense than they would normally be. By the end of the 90 minutes, my entire body is completely drenched, and we have to keep a towel over our mats so we don't slip on our own puddles of sweat. I could literally wring my clothes out afterwards!

I know you are probably disgusted and wondering what could possibly make this experience enjoyable. But as I was saying the heat makes the poses more intense, and your total concentration is on the moment and holding your body in a strange position that you wouldn't normally find yourself in. It makes it so easy to forget about everyday life, the drama, the stress, the stuff that happens that you wish would not. And for that 90 minutes you are free from it all, required only to move in wierd ways and concentrate on it. As for the sweating part, believe me, it feels good. Like you just rinsed your whole body out. And that moment when you are finished and you walk out of the hot room and that burst of cool air hits you....ahhhh....so call me crazy, but I'm hooked.