Armed with courage and a sports bra, I tried for you Bikram Yoga (also called Hot Yoga). For those of you who have been living under a rock since the 80s, the principle of Bikram Yoga is to perform a series of yoga poses, both standing and sitting, that are relatively classic except for the fact that the studio is preheated at 38°C (hence the name!) and humidified. Yoga in a hammam, to put in simply.
My studio is very close to my office – convenient. The classes are bilingual even though I am the only foreigner at this particular time. When I come in, I exchange my boots for a pair of slippers that I’ll take off in the changing rooms, and receive two fresh towels. I change to minimalist clothing, get into the heated room and choose a mat. The light is dim, the studio smells nicely of hot wood (and not at all of sweat, which is great). Only half the mats are taken so far, with most participants lying on the floor getting used to the heat and the moisture. So far it seems completely bearable, I don’t really get what the fuss is about. I will later.
Since my carreer as a yogi came to an end when I left Japan in 2008, my body is completely rusted – but that’s not actually the problem. Anyone can choose to modify the poses according to their flexibility, and the instructor helps everyone exercise while not getting hurt. The original idea behing yoga is actually neither flexibility nor relaxation, it is to allow the participants to build enough muscle strength and body control to maintain a meditation pose indefinitely. In other words, it is hard physical exercise. And in a tropical atmosphere like this one, I am soaked from head to toe within 15 minutes. My glasses glide on my nose. The class is 90 minutes… hang in there. The first half (standing positions) is the hardest and I need to sit down several times to let my breathing and my heart rate calm down to a reasonable rhythm. And to drink, of course. I was careful to amply hydrate before the class and still put away over a litre of water throughout the session.
While I pant and drip and turn purple,the class’ superstars breeze through and hardly flush as they hold the tree position.
The second half of the session, sitting positions, goes a lot better, and I am just on the verge of my comfort zone. I can choose to push myself a little harder or not. Free to concentrate on flexibility rather than physical effort, I really notice how beneficial the heat is to muscle stretching.
Verdict? I signed up for 4 months. I really enjoyed the session, the class atmosphere, this type of physical exercise, and even if maintaining a pose for a few seconds doesn’t seem like much on paper, I can clearly feel the effects in my thighs even a couple days later! The poses are the same every time, I hope it will not become boring.
