Day 7 of 20 days of Hot Yoga!

Here are some basics and the benefits of Bikram Yoga from the Seacliff website:


Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class is a twenty-six posture series done in a heated room, designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the order in which they should be stretched. 

Bikram’s Hot Yoga systematically moves fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as nature intended. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being will automatically follow.


I can tell you I feel great and I require less sleep than I did a week ago. My head is clearer. And I have more flexibility, which is good. It is important to me to maintain my flexibility as I grow older. I want to always be able to hike and bike and be physical.

In shavasana, after finishing a pose, I can usually feel my heart beating throughout my body. Even in my hands and feet. It feels good. I am shocked by how much I sweat during class. Even my ankles sweat! I drip. My shorts and top are totally soaked afterward. I'm sure all the sweating is good for my system. Toxins be gone! Also, the skin on my face looks better and my pours are tighter.

So today I decided to try an afternoon class. I thought I might have better balance later in the day. Or that I might be stretchier or that the class might be easier or more fulfilling - or something. Anyway, I was at the studio for the 4:30 p.m. class.

I finished lunch (a burrito) at 2:00. At 3:00 I was still feeling sort of full. At 4:00 I figured I was going to be fine - 2.5 hours since I had eaten should be plenty of time for me to be comfortable in class. Not so. Possibly I'm just used to doing this yoga on a totally empty stomach. I actually belched a couple of times during, and felt slightly nauseated near the end of the session.

This session was the second hardest I have done. Just barely better than day 1. I was dizzy and light-headed when class was over. I did balance a little better today. Not remarkably better, but somewhat better. I am so looking forward to the day that I can balance for 60 seconds on one leg with the other one over my head. . . someday.

The class was full and probably half actually sat down and didn't do all of the poses. I did all of it and wow was it intense. I was red-faced and shaky afterwards. It took a good forty minutes for me to feel normal again. Of course, the first day I didn't feel normal all day. . . I just got that today wasn't really that bad. Just different that I expected.

I'm going back to mornings. First thing in the morning.