Bikram Yoga Session after months of inactivity

These last few months have not been good for my Bikram practice. I've probably made it in less than 10 times in the last three months. Between getting sick for a while, going to Barcelona, and the warmth of the bed vs. the cold of the street at 5AM, it has started to seem like less and less of a good idea to go to Bikram. Which is a shame. I really like the studio where I go (http://www.bikramphiladelphia.com). I've gotten to be friends with the owner there, Joel. And I feel better when I do it. So I'm going to try and get in more for the next week or two and see what comes of it.

Bikram with a Polar Heart Rate Monitor

I run with a Polar Heart Rate Monitor sometimes. I have been curious for some time about what happens to my hear rate during Bikram, so I wore one during this morning's session. I told my instructor, Alex, what I was doing, and she suggested that I check my hear rate prior to and after the Camel Pose (Ustrasana). She predicted that my heart rate would go up a lot. She was right. Prior to the posture, my heart rate was 122 bpm. After it was 164. Anyway, here were my numbers for the session: Total time: 1:26 Average: 134 KCal: 818 Fat %: 40% I generally get numbers like this when I run about an hour and a half.

Session at Bikram Philadelphia

After swearing I'd get in to the studio (http://www.bikramphiladelphia.com) for a session all last week, I finally made it in today. Except for the half session in my office, it's been two weeks since my last session. Forgive me, Bikram, for I have sinned.... The session was good-- I actually get a little stronger when I take a break. Except this break was too long, so I'm actually a lot weaker. My one insight recently has been that you really have to relax between postures. My instructor, Joel, always says that Hatha Yoga is different partially because we relax completely between postures. But I really had not done it before. It just made me think about how Earl Campbell used to stay completely still until the entire pileup was finished when he got tackled. At first people would think he was hurt, but after he did it a zillion times everyone realized he was just having a rest. Part of the reason for relaxing completely between postures is to allow the effects of the postures to happen, as well. A lot of postures restrict part of the body on purpose-- then when you relax afterwards, that part is unrestricted. Kind of like wringing out a rag. And I was pretty wrung out after this morning's session.

Half session in the office

I've been having some trouble getting into the yoga studio, but I want my practice to go forward, so I tried doing something I've done a couple of times before: a half session on my own. Basically I did one set of each pose as opposed to two. It took me about 40 minutes. I felt great when I was done.

It was lacking some, though. There was no heat (which actually was not all that great of a problem!). And no one was egging me along, so I had to concentrate harder on not giving up a pose when it got difficult.

But I think this may be a good way to keep things going when I can't get to the studio.

By the way, I found this amazing video of Kristina Kireeva that made me realize that I could go a lot further in the Cobra Pose (Bhujangasana).

Bikram Yoga: Two months

I've been practicing Bikram yoga since March 29, 2006. That's just over two months now. I've been going three times a week since then. I haven't written much lately, but things have been happening. For example, about three weeks ago my left knee popped when I got overly ambitious during the toe stand (Padangustasana). It's just now starting to feel pretty good again, and this morning I tried, cautiously, to get into the pose again. I didn't get all the way in, but nothing popped this time.

I've been doing maitenance for the studio's web page (http://www.bikramphiladelphia.com). That's been fun, and something I'm actually more or less good at.

I understand that yoga is slow-- it may take years to see changes. That's okay. I still see short term changes that I like-- I'm a lot more flexible, my balance is better, and I lost six pounds. That's all good.

Bikram Yoga: Drink water! Stop fidgeting!

I've learned two new things about Bikram yoga:

1) For a while now I've been drinking a liter of water on the way out the door before Bikram class. I forgot to do this on Sunday, and I was pretty bad off about three poses in. My balance was off, I couldn't catch my breath, and I was in a general pain fog for most of the class. Even drinking a lot of water during class didn't help. So drink a lot of water before class.

2) When I first got started doing Bikram, I made a mad dash for my towel and my water bottle between every pose. I would end up a little out of breath every time I did this. I've figured out that I do a lot better if I just don't move at all between poses. I've gotten used to being soaked with sweat and not wiping it off (it does no good to wipe off anyway, you're sweaty again in .3 seconds). And I've figured out that if I drink water before class, I don't need much during class. And I feel a lot better if I don't fidget, scratch, wipe, and drink between poses.

In fact, I've discovered that, for me, my mind makes up excuses to move around. I always want to shift my feet in the standing poses. But it turns out that whereever I shift to is never better than where I started.

Bikram Yoga: You better breathe!

This is my third week doing Bikram Yoga at Bikram's Yoga College of India in Philadelphia (http://www.bikramphiladelphia.com/). I'm going three times a week now.

On Friday I went with Sonia for our weekly yoga date. For some reason I lost control of my breathing about a quarter of the way through class. I just started panting. Considering that this is a 90 minute class, that's pretty serious. I had a solid core of pain right in the center of my body for the last hour of class. I didn't really catch my breath until about an hour after class. It wasn't pretty.

When I went into class this morning I promised myself to concentrate on my breathing, even if it meant I'd do less on the poses. I really watched it, controlled it, modified the pose if necessary to be able to control my breathing. When I finished class, I felt great. Oddly enough, I got even deeper into the poses than last time. I guess it *is* all about breathing.

Bikram Yoga: Week one

As I mentioned last week, I found a couple of Yoga places here in Center City, Philadelphia (Yoga Classes in Philadelphia). I had done one Bikram Yoga class in New Orleans before we evacuated, and I had been happy with it. The schedule was right. And I'm a little bit of a masochist (really-- I have the T-shirt and everything.)

So I signed up for Bikram Yoga at Bikram Yoga of Philadelphia. I've done four classes in the last week, including a date with Sònia last Friday. She's gotten into it too.

Bikram is hard. I've decided that Bikram is the fisting of Yoga. On Wednesday I did a class after getting only four hours of sleep. My balance was all messed up. I was trying to do this head to knee pose where the goal is to touch your forehead to your toes-- I thought, yeah, right. But I really pushed it, and I actually felt my hair touch my toes! Right then, it was like someone turned on a big switch-- for a moment, I was completely awake. I had complete consciousness. I heard the theme music to "Bonanza". It was cool.

Then I went out of the pose and it was gone. Guess I'll have to go back next week.

Yoga classes in Philadelphia

Since the search for lunchtime kung fu/tai chi classes didn't work out (see No Lunchtime Kung Fu in Center City), I'm looking for yoga classes now. You say flaky, I say eclectic. Anyway, I've turned up two likely studios.

The first one is Bikram-- I went to one Bikram class in New Orleans before we evacuated, and it was cool. Or rather, not, it was done in a 100 degree room. It truly kicked my ass, but in a way that I liked.

Bikram Yoga of Philadelphia
http://www.bikramphiladelphia.com/schedule.shtml
M-F - 06:15 - 7:45, 12:00 - 13:30, 19:30 - 21:00
$20 first week,
10 classes - $120, month unlimited $150

The second one does Ashtanga yoga, which I don't know anything about. However, I like that they do a 12:00 - 12:45 class. That's realistic. One thing I picked up in my Kung Fu search was that studios sometimes take the attitude that if you can't bend your life around the class, you aren't dedicated enough. I guess I'm not very dedicated, but I *would* like to get in some form of exercise.

The Yoga Loft
http://www.theyogaloftphilly.com/schedule.html
M-F 07:00-08:00
M,W,F 12-12:45

By the way, the info I have here is only for classes that worked for my schedule. Go to the websites listed to see the entire schedule.