Don't Leave the Room

I took my first Bikram yoga class yesterday. For years, I had been ogling Bikram from a distance, curious about why anyone would choose to practice yoga in 105 degree.

But I was just coming off a few days of detox eating and thought that maybe a nice way to end it all (hopefully, not literally) was with a last good sweat and stretch in the heat.

When I arrived for the class, I was never greeted so warmly (pun intended) by fellow students. People could tell I was a first timer and all shared the same advice: Don’t stand under the panels (that’s where it’s hottest); keep a second towel nearby; take a knee if you need a break; and most of all, no matter how bad you feel, don’t leave the room. Leave the room? Why would I leave the room?

If I wasn’t nervous before arriving at the studio, I certainly was now.

I didn’t need to be. The assanas aren’t particularly complicated, and the pace is fairly slow. But I found it difficult to focus. It might have been the streaming dialog from the instructor who led the class through words, not demonstration. It might have been the close proximity of the student on the mat just inches in front of mine. Or it might have been the heat. The weakest part of my own practice on a good day is balance and so I wobbled, even during tree. The nausea began when tried to join a few of them by lowering myself into toe stand. I fought the urge to flee the room but took a knee instead. Fortunately, we were done with the standing poses and treated to a few moments on our backs and, after a few deep breaths, I was fine and ready to go.

Bikram is a series of 26 poses and breathing patterns that are practiced universally, in the same order, no matter where you study. There’s no centering at the start of class, no soothing music in the background, no gentle instruction from the class leader urging you to make the practice your own, no calming savasana at the close.

It’s the mirror opposite of my approach to teaching.

There was a lot about Bikram that didn’t feel right to me. I think I would hate to teach it. And yet, there was something pretty great about it, too.

The marathon runner in me loved the rush of endorphins and feeling the sweat flowing out of every pore.  Despite the forewarnings, I felt fabulous after the class and throughout the day. I had a surge of energy in the evening that I hadn’t experienced in a long time, but, I was also tired and slept like a rock.

I’m going to go back and see if I like it as much the second time around. If I do, I think I’d like to practice Bikram a couple times a week. In moderation, it may be the perfect balancecomplement to the gentle yoga that I teach.

Someone asked me if there’s anything I'd incorporate from Bikram into my own classes. There is, but it’s not a pose or breathing. It’s a lesson I learned from the other students that is applicable in and outside of the studio: No matter how hard it gets, stick with it. Take a break if you need to. Change your position or your perspective. But whatever you, don’t leave the room.

Namaste.