Wasn't sure how I was going to go after running group at 6.30am and then a day of internship, but this was by far my best class yet! Maybe it was the 4L of water I drank throughout the day. Maybe it was the excitement of having two giggling lulu friends joining me. Maybe the heat was different. Maybe it was the 5pm orange.
Who knows, but I felt great. Super sweaty but not like my insides were melting, like some of the first classes. Didn't get dizzy once, no headache, had great energy. I never even imagined it could feel this good. The room was pretty packed but with quite a few beginners. Triangle pose is still my worst, I can't even hold it long in a non-heated room. Friends L1 and L2 were pulling funny faces in the mirror so I nearly lost it a couple of times.
It was L1's first time at bikram and she did great. Red in the face but I swear she didn't even look sweaty, maybe her brand new super absorbent towel soaked it all up. I wished I could telepathically tell her how long there was to go, remembering how endless it felt at my first time.
L2 was really flexy but she only drank 2L of water today and had a couple of moments of panic when she thought she was about to lose her sushi in there. She had to lie down a lot.
The instructor spoke kind of quietly and monotonously, she sounded like a racing commentator. "Aaaand headtothekneeifyoucan'treachyourkneebendyourkneenowlockyourkneelastchancelockyourkneelockyourknee" etc. My intention for the class was to try and be the first one into each new pose, not lagging or dawdling to try and shorten the amount of time holding it, like I have so far. This attitude helped. I was walking on air afterwards.
*We shared a coconut water after. Forgotten the brand name but it was in a glass bottle. It tasted overwhelmingly like cornflakes and milk... ugh
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| Here are the postures. Looks easy enough, right? Not in 40 degrees C! |
Tuesday 19 July 6pm, Prahran
Well, bikram kicked my butt tonight.
Had a small panic as we walked into the room tonight, it was very hot already. It stung and dried my eyeballs. L1 and L2 were with me again and I saw what I can only describe as sheer terror on their faces. Sweat started dripping down my arms in the first breathing exercise, and I wasn't doing it properly for some reason- I had to cheat with extra inhales when we were supposed to be doing one long exhale. The skinny girl in front had a bit of a death rattle going on with her breathing, but everyone else at Prahran is comparatively quiet to those exorcisms I witnessed at Richmond.
In the first half-moon pose with my arms straight up, my hands felt like they were being burnt from the hot air blasting in from the high vent behind me. I can't escape the vents anywhere! I couldn't wait to bend sideways to get my hands out of the furnace. But bending was where The Troubles began. After bending forward to touch the mat, and standing up slowly, I got really dizzy and my eyes went black, so I stood there swaying -waiting and waiting for my vision to come back- and my hearing went muffled too. Felt like I was underwater. It seemed to go on for ages and freaked me out a bit, and I really didn't want to fall over, so sat down. In the first pose!! Whyyy?!!? I must have been the first one down, and after such a great class last week, I don't understand. I'd prepared exactly the same: drank 4L (2L water and 2L weak Gatorade) during the day, had an early healthy lunch, and then an orange at 4.30pm. Pissed me off because I'd understand being dizzy if I hadn't drunk enough today, as they explain "It's not unusual to feel dizzy or nauseous... Practicing yoga in a heated room reveals to us our present condition, and inspires us take much better care of ourselves" but I don't know how I could have prepared any better for today!
The room was packed with over 40 people. The instructor was the guy in board shorts I'd had for #3 at Richmond. He said more good things about changing your attitude, trying harder, making the choice, but I was struggling so bad that I couldn't even muster a smile when I tried. I dawdled and sat out and lay down slowly and sat up slowly. I was hating it, every time I stood up I got dizzy and saw black again. A beginner tried to leave but was convinced to stay- she wasn't happy about it! Then he joked that there were only 15 poses to go (when there were really only 2 to go) and she believed him, and moaned. My two beautiful lulu's were struggling too.
My intention for the class was not to keep wiping the sweat off my face, because it would just come back anyway. Made an effort to do this but kept finding myself doing it unconsciously. Sweatier than normal? Hotter than normal? I could see continuous rivers pouring off everyone. Kneeling down for a lot of poses I watched skinny girl in front, and her bike shorts were running like a tap. That's only a slight exaggeration. Sitting here on the couch typing with cold fingers it's hard even for me to remember how hot it was in there. It's like another world. A weird, fluorescent, intense, smelly world. Imagine a sauna in a South East Asian country, but with a very distinctive odour blend of sweat, carpet, and incense. Eau de Bikram. Bike shorts soaked. Singlet soaked. Towel soaked. Pressing hot face to dripping knees. When the instructor walked by me and clapped his hands I felt droplets rain down on my back.
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| source |
There were some poor people in cotton t-shirts and full length leggings, I don't even know how they stayed in the room!
So, I think I'm a bit over Bikram for the moment. I've made it sound atrocious, I know. If I'd had a great class last night, so two in a row, I think I would be hooked and buying a monthly pass. It felt amazing last Thursday. But just the fact that I couldn't have prepared my body for it any better, it feels like the luck of the draw if I'm going to have a good class or not. I know I'll forget the pain and crave doing it again, in a month or so, looking for that euphoric feeling I got last week. Time heals all wounds. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for punishment.
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| We don't look as hot as we were! |
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