Bikram Yoga

Last night I went to my first ‘Bikram Yoga’ class. The special introductory offer of £10 for unlimited classes over the first ten days seemed to good to miss.
I’ve been looking for something to help get me fit for sometime and Yoga really appeals to me for a number of reasons.
Firstly, I have recently become interested in meditation and Buddhism and Yoga is a perfect extension to this interest.
Bikram Yoga classes take place in a room heated to 104 degrees. An instructor then takes you through 26 yoga moves. Each one of these moves is carried out three times. It is a particularly punishing schedule that is meant to also test and improve your mind by pushing it to its limits. Of course like most of the other participants, there are certain moves or positions that are almost impossible for some people to attain. I found positions that required you to sit on your legs particularly hard and painful so had to gently ease myself into some of these.
The last 20 minutes or so of the set 90 minute session I found particularly punishing and struggled to get through this period. I literally felt like I would collapse if I continued so eased up considerably. However, I am pleased that I managed to push myself pretty hard without causing any damage to myself and knowing when my body had had enough.
The session ended with a period of meditation in darkness.
I have never produced so much sweat before in my life. Even a sauna isn’t 90 minutes long and even my shorts and underpants were ringing wet.
After my shower I felt completely invigorated and alive. It was probably the healthiest I’d felt for many years.
About an hour or so later I was extremely tired and found myself nearly nodding off at Angie’s house. I had no hunger at all.
The next morning I expected to wake up and virtually be crippled with aches and pains but surprisingly, whilst I could certainly feel almost every muscle in my body, I wasn’t in any pain. The only thing I did experience was a headache and my neck muscles felt particularly tight. I had a strong urge to drink and as I write this the following day at 2pm I have up to now drank at least thirteen yes thirteen full glasses of water and my headache is just beginning to subside. I must have been incredibly dehydrated. I can now report though that after these thirteen glasses of water since getting up this morning my pee has returned to a lighter more acceptable colour.
The instructor has recommended that newbies should follow their first visit up with another stint the next day so tonight I will attend for some more torture. Hopefully, I will also improve a little more on my suppleness.