I’ve never been one for stretching. I know it’s good for you and it prevents injuries, but I’ve always found ways to skirt around this last segment of my workout for three main reasons: first, it’s boring; second, you don’t break a sweat while doing it; and third, I’m probably one of the least flexible people ever.
But as a runner, I knew that I should be doing some stretching every once in a while in addition to attempting to touch my toes after a workout. So as I got more into running, a friend of mine convinced me to try Bikram Yoga with her. After I got past the fact that I’d be doing a workout with the word “yoga” in the title, I went to a class with her. And then I went back again and again.
WHAT IS BIKRAM YOGA?
Bikram Yoga is a 90-minute class that takes place in a room heated to between 105 and 110? F. The heat makes you more flexible and helps flush toxins out of your body, according to Bikram Yoga NYC. Just by sitting in a room that hot, you’re bound to break a sweat, and after I sweated through several T-shirts my first worry about yoga was eliminated. The classes are led by instructors who I likened to radio football commentators, based on how fast they talk and how much they have to say about leaning back or bending forward. The first day, I felt a little out of place in a room filled with people you could tell were hardcore yoga fanatics, but I quickly gained the confidence and ability to do some of the harder poses fairly decently.
The class starts and ends with a deep-breathing exercise and the 26 poses in between stretch nearly every muscle in your body, which eliminated my other worry about yoga. And like with any workout, the more you do it the better you get. I’m still one of the least flexible people I’ve ever met, but I’m getting better at it. There are also several benefits to regular practice—according to Yoga-108 in New Orleans, those who practice regularly will lose weight, have a lower risk of injuries, and have improved concentration and productivity, among many other things. This is in addition to the personal knowledge that you can do a really strenuous workout for 90 minutes in a really hot room. The sense of accomplishment I felt from completing one of the back-bending poses for the first time was actually greater than the accomplishment I felt from finishing a long run for the first time, because it was something that I knew I couldn’t do before I started taking the class. If you want to try a workout that has tons of benefits, a relatively low risk of injury, and is completely different from anything else you’ve ever tried, check it out. Namaste.
WHAT SHOULD YOU KNOW BEFORE GOING?
- Don’t eat for at least an hour before going to class. Drink water throughout the day, and bring water to class.
- Don’t feel like you need to do every move completely. As with any workout, do as much as you can. If you start to feel dizzy or nauseous, take a break.
WHERE CAN I PRACTICE IN NEW ORLEANS?
- Yoga-108, 8229 Oak Street (corner of Oak Street and Dante Street) http://www.yoga-108.net
- New Orleans House of Yoga, 725 Joseph Street (corner of Joseph Street and Magazine Street) http://www.neworleanshouseofyoga.com