some like it hot... some thoughts on bikram yoga

over the weekend, it occurred to me that bikram yoga is really weird. very strange. and if you walked into a class without knowing what was going on... I think your mind would first jump to some sort of seance of sorts.

here are some notes/things:

in general there isnt a lot of small talk or conversation once you enter the studio... "practicioners" tend to respect that everyone is here to push themselves and spend time with themseleves

you enter the yoga room to place your mat and towel over your mat.... you need a towel over the mat or else your yoga mat would have puddles of sweat

once in the room... no one talks except the teacher. except for maybe at the end of class... when we all say namaste

the first 11 (or 26 poses) are done while standing...

the teacher doesn't do the poses, rather she talks through them calmly... each teacher has a very similar way of doing this.

each pose is done twice

each pose has some strange bikram official language name followed by a more colloquial name like.. "awkward pose"

the standing poses are pretty tricky in my mind... some i like better than others

the teacher says funny things like "be like a cobra, your legs should be one" or "your heart might be beating fast like a rabbit"

the floor series are my favorite. in between each set you get a break! called "savasna" or also known as "dead body pose" let me tell you... i love me some savasna...

it is not abnormal to literally hear the sweat dripping of people onto the floor

no one is supposed to leave the classroom during class

the studio always smells specatcular despite the ever presence of sweat.

I thought I would just share some strange ruminations about my adventures of doing bikram yoga... sadly my living social coupon is complete... I will probably not be returning to the studio I was practicing at even though I LOVED it... but it is just too far. but I will be adventuring elsewhere