BIKRAM (HOT) YOGA

One of my work colleagues Miss M tried her first ever hot yoga class on the weekend. I was totally intrigued by this and fortunately yesterday she shared the details of her experience.

But first a little background info on Miss M. She got into running partly through my encouragement. From being an "I think about it all the time but I just cant see it happening" person to then running the City to Bay a few months later there was a big change in her headset. This was then followed with "I'd like to do a Half Marathon but ....." I helped her with her training and we talked regularly about our progress as we were preparing for the same race. She ran it in about 2:08 and I pulled out and did 10kms instead. When it was all over and she was elated with her results, she thanked me for my support and help. I was chuffed (and a little envious of her great result).

Since then she has lost her running mojo and I've parked mine but her venture into the world of hot yoga interested me. I've agreed to go along with her once my next assignment is in and feel the experience for myself. Here are some of the things Miss M said about it:

• Its great for targeting areas of the body where tension builds up and it releases that tension (albeit, not in one session).

• The class went for 90 minutes and was quite a feat of endurance. The last 20 or maybe 30 minutes were poses designed to blast tense areas by changing quickly from a lying position of total relaxation to sitting upright very quickly and ... (I cant remember exactly what else). She found this particularly exhausting.

• There were poses designed to compress parts of the  torso and of course lots of stretched out poses. Many poses were quite challenging.

• The room was hot but not uncomfortable as the heat was dry. It felt good to sweat through the workout.

Her description of how the class made her feel was the most interesting. "I felt odd. I didnt feel good. I was cranky and short tempered and took my kids to the movies so we could all sit quietly in the dark. I didnt want to be yelling at them for any little thing." Her explanation for this was that the yoga is meant to release tension (which she says she carries a LOT of) and some toxins, perhaps like a detox. Until your body can eliminate them, there may be this feeling of "yuk".

Well I cant wait to try it - yes even the feelings of "yuk" dont put me off. Incidentally she said that 2 days later she had debilitating DOMS from her neck down to her ankles and there were muscles hurting that she never knew existed. LOL.

Have you ever tried Bikram (hot) yoga and if so what was your experience with it? I'd love to hear from participants or Liz's EP opinion.

Cheers all

Magda