Halfway Mark - Bikram Yoga

I am now on day 4 of my 1 week challenge, trial or whatever you want to call it at Bikram Yoga. The midway point.

Yes, I have decided to sign up for a week since I am pretty free now and it will keep me occupied and healthy at the same time.

How do I feel? Hmmm...it has not hit me or converted me to an ardent fan. Some days I feel I was dragging myself to go to the studio. I still have interrupted sleep though I wake up later now (at least for the last 2 days).

I could stretch further too. The pain or soreness on my left thumb has minimized greatly. I don't get pins and needles on my left leg within 20mins of sitting on the floor. And no more numbness on my left arm when I sleep. My allergies have disappeared for now, at least on lips and back of neck. But I developed 2 pimples on forehead! Must be from the poses which involved resting forehead on towel mat.

Day 1 (Wednesday) - Diane @ 2pm (4, then 2 students)
I didn't get a good workout, probably because I felt bad shortly after class started so I didn't push myself further in the asanas. Plus I was wary of the camel pose too after what happened previously. Hence, I didn't feel that relaxed at the end of the session nor did I feel my muscles being stretched as much as the very first class. I realized I felt bad because I ate around 12 noon so that means I cannot have food at least 2-3 hours before class.

Day 2 (Thursday) - Benn @ 4pm (4-5 students)
Class was held in the bigger room and it felt warmer in there. I like Benn. He paid more attention to the students and corrected us and actually demonstrated some poses. I was not able to do the Supta - Vajrasana (fixed firm pose) where you bend over backwards on your knees and have your arms over the head behind the previous day but I only managed to get my hands on my heels and bent over partially. A breakthrough was that I was able to do the camel pose.

Day 3 (Friday) - Benn @ 12noon (5-6 students)
Another breakthrough - I managed to put my hands over my heads and bent over backwards. I didn't know if I could do it but Benn just said to try and slowly lean back. I could see that I could push myself harder into the poses though sometimes I just feel so tired that I want to take a break. Towards the end of the class, I could feel a slight cool air coming out from the vent. That caught me by surprise and I actually felt a bit cold in the heated room.

Day 4 (Saturday) - Benn @ 3pm (15-20 students)
Today was the worst ever! It was so HOT inside the big room. I think the smaller room is not as hot. Initially I thought it was because there were lots of people in the room too but after talking to others, it seemed that the heat was not the norm. It was just so hot that I didn't want to do any of the poses and 3/4 into the class I was so tempted to just get out and cool down. But I forced myself to stay in and try to finish it.

This is the first time I actually didn't do several of the asanas. The heat was so overpowering I really felt like I was in a sauna and could hardly breathe. Needless to say, I skipped my "problem" poses like the fixed firm pose and camel pose. Even the sit up, I just didn't have the energy to do it well.

Verdict so far: I am still not sure if I want to continue after my 7 days challenge is over. I like the intimacy of the class, especially in the weekday afternoon sessions where there are less people. Plus the instructors do remember your name and your trouble spots/poses. But if the after work classes are going to be so crowded like today, I don't think I will enjoy it. From what they told me, usually there are 10, 20 to 30 people in the evening classes.

So we shall see. 3 more days to go. Hopefully I will see more changes. The interesting thing about Bikram is that the instructors varied and you don't get to know who is teaching the class till you get inside. Anyway Bikram is all about you, yourself and your will and mind. You are pushing yourself against your body, so you just concentrate on your own poses and ignore all things else.