Monday, August 07, 2006
Sweat it out for a bargain
Alyssa: On Monday night, I found myself withering away in a sweat induced state with bouts of nausea whilst trying to strike a camel pose. Yes, I am talking about yoga, and 90 minutes of it conducted in a steam room in accordance with Bikram yoga principles. For the uninitiated, yoga takes many forms and one of the more unusual ones is Bikram/hot yoga, a more strenuous version of the suddenly trendy 5,000-year-old discipline based on breathing and stretching techniques. The unique feature is that classes are conducted in a room heated to 37 degrees. The yoga poses are designed to enhance strength, flexibility and balance, but as I discovered, that was all lost on me as I tried for a good part of the session to concentrate on how not to pass out from heat exhaustion. I started off with good intentions, and even managed to rope a work colleague into attending a session. I was initially drawn to the beginner's $17 unlimited sessions for 10 consecutive days. I figured if I attended 5 times that would equate to $3.50 a class! It was just too good of a bargain to pass up. So after work, my colleague and I turned up to the class in anticipation of our newfound flexibility. We arrived at the class early and although a bit overwhelmed by the heat, we figured we had enough time to acclimatised. When the class filled up, it became noticeably stuffy with 40 or so bodies in a confined space. The first few poses were easy enough, I've done astanga yoga in the past and found the Bikram positions less strenuous. However, the heat started to soar and sweat was oozing out uncontrollably from every pore on my body. I started to feel fatigue and decided to lie down. Hey, I can even pretend I was doing the dead snake pose! As I was lying there with my eyes closed, I could nearly picture myself in Cairns lying on the beach but for the smell of other people's sweat. I did try to overcome my mental barrier by getting up now and then and trying to follow the rest of the class by striking a few poses such as attempting to wrap my legs around my head or something. But each time I got up, I felt nauseated and thought that this may not be a good time to throw up. Anyway, by the end of the class, it became obvious who the novices are as there were 4 of us continuously lying down. I'm not sure if I'm up for more torture but I do feel compel to maximise my $17!
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5 comments:
You're so good. I know Mai likes yoga too but I've never been able to get into it much less Bikram yoga. Hope you are well.
Gee, that sounds like torture! Forget that! I've never done Bikram before. I take a power yoga class at my local gym and its not at all like that! Usually the room is a little too cool, and only about 5 people max even show up to a room that fits 20 comfortably.
My most recent accomplishment is the head-stand. Push-ups and sit-ups are still my biggest weakness, but balance is my strength. Truly its a lazy way to exercise to me, cause there's no excessive running or jumping. Slow movements and the work out is more in the holding of the pose... and I've never been asked to wrap my legs around my neck!
Most true yogi's look down on gym yoga cause its a ripp-off of a bunch yoga styles with some pilates thrown in, but I really like my yoga instructor, I look forward to going, cause we get to catch up on eachother's week. And I get to have some time away and get some exercise in at the same time. I got Jason his own yoga mat, and hoping he will start doing yoga 1 soon.
Keep looking around, you might something better. When you eventually come visit you can try my class! Hahahaa
Mai, I was only joking about the leg-wrap-around-neck style. I don't even think that's humanly possible to do except maybe by a circus contortionists. But you are right, Birkram yoga is way too uncomfortable to do. I question the merits of doing this form of yoga in a heated room. The theory is that you become more flexible doing yoga in heated environment than a cold one. Nevertheless, that was a once off attempt.
Heh heh... sucker! Kudos for giving it a go though. And what a bargain -- at least you got to open up some pores with a steam treatment, yeah?
My most recent accomplishment is comfortably doing 15 chin-ups in a set. Sounds pretty pathetic, but they're bloody hard!
I'm with Mai -- I just cannot do sit-ups without someone/something holding my feet down. My personal trainer says I am freakishly strong, but my stomach muscles are unusually weak!
I'm going to try out Pole Dancing in a few weeks with some gal pals. I've tried pretty much every other modern dance style (Funk, Latin, Hip Hop, Reggaeton...) but this style promises an excellent workout. I'm sure there will be lots of laughs too. My only dilemma is that we have to wear hotpants to the class... eek!
Ooohh... I wish I was there! I want to try Pole dancing too! Sounds like a lot of fun and a huge workout too. Bummer! Next time I'm down under we'll all have to okay??
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