One month ago today, I walked by a little yoga studio in our neighborhood. I thought yoga sounded like a peaceful, restorative activity to help heal my shoulder and knees and gain more mobility. So I went to the class.
Turns out this studio was not any yoga studio. It was a Bikram Yoga Studio, which means that the room is heated to 105 degrees. And the class is 90 minutes. (Yes, nine-zero minutes in 105 degree heat.) I walked into the room and was overwhelmed by the oppressive heat. It was a struggle to stay in the room. I felt like the soles of my feet were on fire at times. I withered as I moved through the 26 poses to balance, stretch, and sweat. As the instructor would describe the pose and tell us how the full version ought to look, I would scoff inside. But, sure enough, if I furtively glanced at the yogi next to me, she was IN that exact pose, with her forehead resting flat on her shins, or balancing her entire body weight on one set of toes for sixty seconds. I was incredulous!
However, I persisted. I made it through, came home feeling dizzy, fatigued, sore, and headached (I am making that a verb despite what Webster says). Not for a few hours. Not for a day. For four days. Then, despite my anxiety and misgivings, something inside me decided to go back to the yoga studio. The heat was still stifling, the poses were still rigorous, but I loved the challenge. I came home and guzzled water the entire day. And I felt great. And I returned every few days for the rest of the month. With each class, I felt stronger and a teeny tiny bit more flexible. And the heat in the room was there, but as ambiance, not as a smothering presence.
Today is my one-month Bikram anniversary. On this lazy holiday, I got up at 5:30am to get to class. Shocking. Even more shocking is the fact that today I was able to do the toe-stand pose for the very first time. I puffed up with pride to the point that I bungled the next three balancing poses. Humility is apparently part of the yogi learning process. But what an amazing process it is. Namaste!
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