Catching up!

YOGA BLOG

How on earth did I become such an internet addict? AND Bikram addict? First I was stuck in Cleveland where there is NO Bikram Yoga, then I was stuck in my friend’s house in Hudson, WI without internet! So, I am finally going to go to Starbucks after yoga tomorrow and do the stuff I need to do that I usually spend a few hours a day on every single day! By the time I get the DSL connection from AT and T, I will have accrued so many OFF hours of internet use, I might need to devote an entire day to just surfing!!

I went to Bikram Yoga in Minneapolis last night at 7pm. It is a wonderful studio in a very eclectic neighborhood that I would love to wander around more some day. Minneapolis was the only studio in the area to have a late class on Fridays so even though it is a 40 minute drive, I felt it was worth it. The studio is in the bottom floor of a large building, it has bathrooms, showers, lockers, and the locker room itself is accessed through a pushbutton lock which I really like. The teacher , Heidi was so very good with her dialogue and her corrections throughout class. She also knows Jenna whom I met in San Francisco and is one of my favorite teachers ever! I am usually a morning yoga person since I have to have coffee at some point in my early day or fall into a coma. So when I do yoga in the evening, the caffeine I have ingested make my heart pound. (hmm, if it burns more calories that way, maybe it is a good thing?) Anyway, the studio was very humid and I must admit to having to sit out a lot of the second sets of postures. Not only that but I had to leave to use the restroom which rarely happens to me! As soon as we hit the floor postures and I raised my knee to my shoulder, I knew, just knew that the second I rolled onto my stomach there would be trauma. Occasionally, I feel like I kinda maybe need to go and I can work through it as soon as I take my mind off it. Not last night, it was like a giant water balloon.

Enough of the banal side of yoga.

Today was a morning class at Bikram Yoga Woodbury. This is a very new studio in a new building that is comfortable, big enough, yet cozy at the same time. They have a locker room and shower and lock the door for class. Karen taught class and she really read the class well. The standing poses went by fairly quickly but she gave us a little extra time during the floor series to breathe and recuperate. I enjoy that studio, the people who attend class are usually open to a little chat after class and it feels good to hear about other people and why they take yoga.

My friend Sherry went to both classes with me and even though during class I barely even know anyone else is in the room, it is nice to have her there. She is a calm peaceful person who is a joy to hang out with. She has been practicing yoga at her gym and we talked today about the gym changing to a more “core power” yoga outlook. I understand that the “core power” is popular and bouncy like aerobics and thus more “saleable”. But the Ashtanga yoga they offered previously had attracted a different group of people who are now a little stranded. I am glad that Sherry has been open to going to Bikram when I am in town but not many people are eager to go from Ashtanga to Bikram. To me, it is an easier change than Ashtanga to “core power”. Both Ashtanga and Bikram emphasize the breath and long slow poses.

I have a couple of questions. First is the position of the tongue during yoga. I had been listening to a teacher in New Smyrna and when we were in Savasana, she said “let your tongue relax away from the roof of your mouth”. I found it really relaxed me and so I have been trying to keep my tongue there during the whole class. Is that the best place? It seems to keep me from having my jaw tighten and pushing against the roof of my mouth with my tongue which makes my stress higher. The second question is why don’t more of the teachers talk about the breath. Jenna from San Francisco had emphasized breathing during one of the first classes I took with her. She reminded us that the inhale should be faster than the exhale to keep the heart rate slower. I think it would be a great thing to remind us of when the heat and humidity start to overwhelm.

Last question is if Bikram has decreed that new students not get the example breathing at the start of class? It used to be when new students were in class the teacher would demonstrate the first breathing exercise but the last two classes I went to with new students, it wasn’t demonstrated. The teachers also used to have the students watch the first Rabbit posture which they don’t anymore. Maybe it feels to me like they should be a little more conscious of the new people who are trying Bikram for the first time and might feel overwhelmed. I know I was totally unprepared mentally for my first class.

Whew, ok, that’s what I have had on my pointy little brain for a week!!