Bikram Yoga

So my new obsession in life is Bikram Yoga. I got turned onto it by a friend who goes once a week and has asked me to go a couple of times. Well, finally 3 weeks ago, I decided to give it a try and I was soooo nervous. Basically b/c 1.) I have lost the very little flexibility that I never had in the first place, 2.) It is done in a very hot room and I HATE being hot, 3.) I have never done any yoga of any sort, so i was going into this totally blind, 4.) my friend told me that if i needed to lay down that i just had to lay w/ my head towards the instructor w/ my eyes open out of respect (is this so they can tell if i'm alive or not??) 5.) she also said that in her last class a lady wouldn't stop moaning and groaning...um, why was she doing this inthe first place??? , and 6.) of this picture.... WTF??

Okay, so she told me to be really hydrated (so i drank 3 Liters of Water) and not to eat anything too big 2-3 hours before hand...great, now not only do i have to be worried about not passing out in the heat, but also not puking.

Oh, may i also mention that when i asked what to wear, the answer was "as little as possible"...only after i walked in and saw all the skimpy tight clothes did i know what this meant...and now after going, i truly understand. I Have NEVER NEVER sweat like what I do in this class. As in a constant stream of sweat pouring off of me and out of places i have never known had sweat glands. :)

Back to my first experience, so i walk into this hot-a$$ room and get even more nervous. Oh, and that was w/ two fans on and the door open...they turn those off and close the door and turn the heater on when class starts. :) Fun. So we go through it and i survive, had to lay down a couple of times and afterwards, i had never felt so good...and a little delirious at the same time. Thankfully my friend drove us! Now I go at a minimum once a week, but am starting to go twice a week starting this week. It's weird that i almost feel not right if i don't go...as in my body is not happy and i just feel unhealthy.

I highly recommend going to this website and seeing what this is all about and checkout the FAQs tab.... http://www.bikramyoga.com/ i know they have a studio in Lawrence and 2-3 in Kansas City. TRY THIS out if you get a chance. Just make sure to drink a lot of water starting a couple of days before and you will be fine... It is okay for any one of any size, shape, age, athletic ability, injuries/ailments...that's what i love about it. My neck doesn't crack anymore, my knee that I had my ACL surgery on is starting to feel stronger (which is helping w/ our runs), and I just feel better in general. Okay, so i'm going to step off my Bikram soap box, but I guess i'm just excited b/c i really thought i was going to hate it and it turns out that now i don't know what i'd do w/o it. :) Here are some of the different poses (out of the 26 that you do)... let me add that a 140 lbs. woman who does this yoga for 45 minutes burn around 630 calories. that's alot!