I have just gotten back onto the Yoga wagon after having fallen off for about two weeks, and it feels good. I was worried about how much ground I would have lost or if I had the mental discipline to pick back up and I am happy to report that, after a class on Monday and one this morning, I am feeling pretty good.
I did one class last week which was in the middle of my short hiatus, and it was the worst class I ever had. My body was tight, my mind was all over the place and I spent at least 1/3 of the class on the floor in savasana. It was really awful and the kicker was that class happened right in the middle of a particularly blue period/mental funk that I was in — the funk being related to pre-trip jitters and being sad about moving out of my place at the end of this month.
So, second class this week and feeling better. That said, I do need to start looking into doing other types of yoga and developing a non-Bikram practice before I start my travels. I really enjoy Bikram a lot, but it is not the most practical in terms of what I’m doing and where I am going.
One of the things I will miss about Bikram is the sweating. Sometimes when I go into a pose where my head is upside down, the sweat runs into my eyes and then pours off my face. It feels like I am crying, like my body is crying, as if it is shedding its tears, letting go of all its pains and sorrows.
I know I will sweat doing normal yoga and that my body will continue to heal itself as I develop my practice, but nothing will every replace that feeling of my body weeping as it does in the heat of a Bikram studio.
This is such an interesting perspective David. I think I mentioned that I’ve always had a strong negative opinion about Bikram (injury, repetition and lack of individualization, trademarking 1000 yr old poses, etc). But I’ve seen Bikram act as a vehicle for incredible transformations.
I’m such a weepy person on my own I always forget how hard it is for others to cry. It’s an incredibly important release, and I’m so happy you found something that allowed you to be so grounded and open.
You can certainly do many of the same poses on the road, yes? If you’re interested in Iyengar yoga you could combine the classic Light on Yoga with a more accessible book like Yoga the Iyengar Way. If you’re interested in moving to a very subtle practice (this is where I’m at now) you could try Donald Moyer. My current teacher is very influenced by him. And I think Anusara yoga is spreading throughout the yoga world, which is a lovely heart-centered style based on good alignment principles.
Sweating can come I promise! Just hold poses for a long time. And start with Suryanamaskar, Sun Salutations
Hope you’re well. I’m turning 40 Sunday. Having a mid-life crisis basically. But in a good way. Are you coming to Portland this summer?
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I know there is a lot of critisism out there about Bikram and I understand where a lot of it comes from. However, Bikram tends to much more accessible to people who might not otherwise ever take up a yoga practice. There are a lot of people who attend the school that I do that are obviously not health or physically-fit centric and it’s great to see them really going for it.
Bikram offers a lot of quick results so it’s understandable why it’s attractive to a wider set of people. I would guess that , since it follows a set routine, it makes it easier in some ways from a structural stand point.
Although, if you look deep into the design of Bikram, it is really amazing. The discipline of the same set routine is a tough master; some days are better than others with different poses so you are constantly in a dynamic relationship with your body and your relative progress. The interlocking poses and the compression/expansion/recovery cycle really moves a lot of blood and oxygen around.
Oh, and the issues of grip – oh my! Trying to hold your foot with your fingers totally interlocked and your skin covered in sweat is really really hard. But what it does is gets you hands, arms and shoulders into the picture along with your concentration … the whole set of poses are really well thought out to a level that is just beyond belief.
Anyway, enough proselytizing from me … Bikram has enough money to pay for his own marketing!!
In terms of starting up another practice, I am totally in the dark as to what direction I should go. Bikram poses are not really good to do outside the sequence except for the ones that are found in other practices, but those are few.
Iyengar Yoga sounds cool, but my gut feeling is maybe it’s not as practical for my situation. Another friend suggested Anusara which sounds really interesting and kind of aligned with some of what’s going on for me with this trip.
I land in Seattle on the 4th of August for 3 weeks. I will make a sojurn down to P-town and SF while I am there. Best guess at this point is I will be in Portland after the 13th and through the weekend.
Happy Birthday!! Hope you have a great time on your deck (assuming that is where your party will be). We can celebrate the Club 40 when I am in town!
PS – The only way out of the crisis is to be the crisis.