Through no fault of my own (I swear it should be a mandatory requirement for all cities to have a Bikram studio) I am being forced to take a Bikram holiday, and it sucks! I've gone home to see my parents for 10 days and this city does not have a bikram studio. Boohoo. It's funny because during my challenge I kept on thinking 'once you finish this you can take a looooonnnng break', but now the challenge has been and gone I find my body craving this crazy type of yoga even more-does that mean i am official yogi yet?!! I'm thinking about buying the Bikram CD (they have it on itunes) and just practicing at home in the cold (eeek), but i'm still worried im going to undo all my hard work...I guess only time will tell!
Today's class was good. I decided to go to my usual midday class and it was a nice bunch of regulars. I love practicing in class with people I know as I really feel like we work off each others energy. One thing I'm noticing since ending this challenge is the change in my sit up. If I've just done a back stretching posture such as camel I find it almost painful to complete a sit up. I don't know why that is happening, maybe it is just my body realigning itself. I'm also struggling to lock out the knee, especially in tuladandasana which I keep on falling out of. Very frustrating, but something I just need to keep working at. It's weird as the thing I love the most about Bikram-the feeling different during the poses every time you go-is also the thing I find the most frustrating. One day I can totally rock the standing series and the next it is like I am a newbie. Oh well, at least it will never get boring!!
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Monday, 2 November 2009
Debretts guide to....Bikram Yoga
So I might not have been doing this yoga terribly long so might not have a right to comment/whinge about this, BUT I still think people need to follow a certain etiquette when it comes to being in class so bare with me....
Today was my first class after finishing my 30 day challenge and for once I decided to go to a late evening class-boy what a change! Firstly the room was packed, but not in a good way. In a chaotic, 'I'm gonna stick my mat wherever I feel like it even if it messes other people around' kinda way. Now I know everyone has a right to put their mat wherever they desire, but do they really have to ignore the row system? It really is just plain selfish. So having finally managed to squeeze myself into the left hand corner of the room with my mat literally touching the mirror I lay down for a nice 10 minutes meditation before class starts. As soon as I had closed my eyes however I heard a shriek of laughter to my right and then some very loud obnoxious talking. Isn't there meant to be a strict rule of silence in the room? Well apparently not on Monday evenings! Five girls, who had clearly come in a group, entered the room and then proceeded to use the next 90 minutes for gossiping, not bikram. I am not kidding, they were even talking during poses! How selfish can you get? What annoyed me the most is the teacher only told them off like twice. I know I shouldn't have let this mess with my rhythm but it totally did, and by the end of class I was fuming. Literally. I'm pretty sure I had smoke steaming out of my nostrils and ears, although that might have just been the heat (haha). During standing bow pose every time one of them fell over they would shriek with laughter. Needless to say my face was a picture of pure hatred and I'm sure they must have seen it as they were quite close to me and thought I was a grumpy old woman (at the ripe old age of 21), but in this instance I really couldn't give a tiddly-toss.
After class I went back into the changing room and had the misfortune of changing next to them and consequently hearing their conversation. I discovered it was their 2nd class and they kept bitching about certain things, like the teacher 'picking' (their words, not mine) on one of them as she kept on looking like she was going to throw up. Showing concern is surely not a bad thing? I always think it is nice when a teacher notices you are struggling and gives you a little pick me up, reminding you it is just yoga and to pull your mental self back into the room. That is part of their job, no? They then went on to discuss in detail their boob jobs (changing room chat? hardly...) and if they were going to give up their nightly drinks in order to afford the classes after their 10 day pass runs out. For my sake I hope they stick to the nightly drinking as I do not want to stand in another class with them!
Now, I'm sure this puts me in the grumpy/mean category, after all doesn't everyone have the right to practice bikram no matter their age, size, shape etc, but I don't think everyone should practice Bikram. If you can't respect people who take this practice seriously then you shouldn't enter the room. If you want to giggle and chat go to the gym, but please don't ruin someone else's 90 minute meditation because you can't focus and keep quiet.
Anyway rant over, this grumpy bitch needs her sleep or she will be even worse tomorrow-god what a thought!
Today was my first class after finishing my 30 day challenge and for once I decided to go to a late evening class-boy what a change! Firstly the room was packed, but not in a good way. In a chaotic, 'I'm gonna stick my mat wherever I feel like it even if it messes other people around' kinda way. Now I know everyone has a right to put their mat wherever they desire, but do they really have to ignore the row system? It really is just plain selfish. So having finally managed to squeeze myself into the left hand corner of the room with my mat literally touching the mirror I lay down for a nice 10 minutes meditation before class starts. As soon as I had closed my eyes however I heard a shriek of laughter to my right and then some very loud obnoxious talking. Isn't there meant to be a strict rule of silence in the room? Well apparently not on Monday evenings! Five girls, who had clearly come in a group, entered the room and then proceeded to use the next 90 minutes for gossiping, not bikram. I am not kidding, they were even talking during poses! How selfish can you get? What annoyed me the most is the teacher only told them off like twice. I know I shouldn't have let this mess with my rhythm but it totally did, and by the end of class I was fuming. Literally. I'm pretty sure I had smoke steaming out of my nostrils and ears, although that might have just been the heat (haha). During standing bow pose every time one of them fell over they would shriek with laughter. Needless to say my face was a picture of pure hatred and I'm sure they must have seen it as they were quite close to me and thought I was a grumpy old woman (at the ripe old age of 21), but in this instance I really couldn't give a tiddly-toss.
After class I went back into the changing room and had the misfortune of changing next to them and consequently hearing their conversation. I discovered it was their 2nd class and they kept bitching about certain things, like the teacher 'picking' (their words, not mine) on one of them as she kept on looking like she was going to throw up. Showing concern is surely not a bad thing? I always think it is nice when a teacher notices you are struggling and gives you a little pick me up, reminding you it is just yoga and to pull your mental self back into the room. That is part of their job, no? They then went on to discuss in detail their boob jobs (changing room chat? hardly...) and if they were going to give up their nightly drinks in order to afford the classes after their 10 day pass runs out. For my sake I hope they stick to the nightly drinking as I do not want to stand in another class with them!
Now, I'm sure this puts me in the grumpy/mean category, after all doesn't everyone have the right to practice bikram no matter their age, size, shape etc, but I don't think everyone should practice Bikram. If you can't respect people who take this practice seriously then you shouldn't enter the room. If you want to giggle and chat go to the gym, but please don't ruin someone else's 90 minute meditation because you can't focus and keep quiet.
Anyway rant over, this grumpy bitch needs her sleep or she will be even worse tomorrow-god what a thought!
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