Steph and Dan's experiences at Bikram yoga

Steph Van pelt
Dan Seljak
Bikram Yoga is Hot!

The founder of Bikram Yoga, Bikram Choudhury, was once quoted, “I sell pain, not cheesecake.”
With a philosophy like that, it’s surprising that he’s had any success at all. Unlike cheesecake, pain is neither creamy, delicious, or a great selling point. Despite this, its undeniable that this style of yoga (known as 'hot yoga') is becoming more popular worldwide, and with the opening of Bikram’s Hot Yoga on Belmont, this unique style of yoga has finally come to K-W.

The idea behind hot yoga is to push your body to its limit in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit with a humidity index of 40-60%. This uncomfortable level of heat and humidity does three things: it forces you to sweat, purging your body of toxins; it relaxes your muscles allowing you to do more stretching with less injury; and it increases your heartbeat, making it a serious cardiovascular workout. All the normal benefits of yoga are included, the biggest of which is the realignment of major joints to a natural position after being jostled around by our sometimes unnatural daily practices. Lower back pain from typing can lessen and even totally disappear, and problems with poor posture can also be fixed with time.

As for mental or spiritual benefits, those are unique for each student. The structure of the class is focused purely on the physical with only passing references to things like chakras, or mental states. By keeping the class so grounded, students are free to have their own  spiritual experiences.
 
The classes take 90 minutes. A teacher guides the class through 26 different postures, the majority of which are preformed twice. During the first few classes it’s not uncommon to experience pain while stretching, feelings of nausea and headaches. But these problems all fade with time and practice. Each of the postures reward persistence and focus, and the rate at which noticeable improvements are made is staggering. While beginners might also find some of the more complicated postures intimidating at first, simply performing them to the furthest of your abilities gives you the full benefit of a perfectly executed version of the same posture.

The studio itself, located on the corner of Belmont Ave and Rock Ave is owned by David Tiviluk and is fully equipped to provide all patrons with a complete and relatively comfortable experience. The facility itself is very clean, bright and modern. The main room is carpeted to prevent slippery floors, with ceiling to floor mirrors for students to see the progress they’ve made. The lobby has a seating area and a bar that serves healthy smoothie style drinks. The change have showers, fully stocked soaps and plenty of space. The only issue is a lack of a locker system or other method of protecting valuables during class, so you just have to trust your fellow patrons.

At the heart of this endeavour is David. David describes his very first Bikram yoga class as spending “ninety minutes in the ring with Mike Tyson.”  David soon went to Los Angeles to Bikram Choudhury’s school – the only place in the world where a person can become a certified teacher in Bikram yoga – to participate in an intensive nine week training program.  Four years later David opened up his own Bikram yoga studio. While his love of the practise is what fuels his work, he also knows how to balance the art with business. David says “to make my livelihood from something I believe in with 100% of my heart and soul is the ideal.” This professional and healthy philosophy can be seen in the upkeep of the facilities, the enthusiasm of the instructors and the faces of the students.

Steph and Dan share their own experiences; Steph describes her first time perspective, while Dan speaks about his own, longer term, experiences.

Steph’s Experience
   
One of my friends spent six months in New Zealand and while she was there discovered Bikram yoga – and loved it.  She raved about it to me and told me I should go.  And so here I was, the night before my first (6AM) Bikram yoga class, drinking what seemed to be buckets of water to follow the instruction to come “well hydrated.” 

It was still dark and chilly out when I left the house and all I could remember thinking about was being in a toasty, warm room.  What I was to discover later was that the studio room would not just be “toasty” or “warm” but hot – like, sweating as if you have never sweat before, hot.

The people arriving for class were of all different ages, male and female, and all different body types.  This started to affirm the “everybody can do yoga” theory I kept hearing from different sources.  Maybe you don’t have to be a ballerina to do this after all?
 
Everyone started the first breathing exercise with a deep, raspy breath inward and then slowly exhaled, all while doing arm movements in sync with the breathing.  After finishing up the breathing technique we moved onto the twenty-six postures. 

Some of the postures were incredibly hard while others seemed to be less advanced; but everything done in the class took all of my concentration.  For many of the postures I had to watch other people in front of me to understand what was to be done.  The teacher normally explains the posture without physically doing it so it was nice to be a row or two back in order to watch and learn from others.

As everyone focused on doing the Standing Bow Pose, Dandayamana Dhanurasana, our teacher told us to look straight into the floor-to-ceiling mirror and there we would find our most valuable teacher.  I looked fiercely into the eyes of my own sweaty reflection; I was teaching and challenging myself at my own level.  I knew my limits and I knew that what I put into Bikram yoga would also be what I take out.
 
As each posture was preformed, my mind was absent of the time, the load of responsibilities that needed to be fulfilled for the day, as well as any other problems I might have had.  I was so focused on the postures and my breathing that I was free from this ball and chain that normally accompanied me on a hectic day.

Soon the teacher notified everyone that the last posture of the class had begun.  To finish the class, the term Namaste was used, meaning, the "divine in me greets the divine in you" .  What a lovely way to end a class and to start a day. 

After class I felt revitalized and content.  The tranquility I had undergone while doing such a strenuous workout carried over into a calming and relaxing state after the class.  I felt rewarded.

Bikram yoga is unique unto anything I have ever done to get a work out.  What is even more awesome is how I felt after the class – it, too, was unlike any feeling I have ever had after working out.  My mind was clear, I was so relaxed that I felt like a rag doll, and, yet, my body felt strong.  If after one class I felt this way, what would continuous classes feel like?  I’ve been left feeling ready to go back for more.


Dan’s Experience

I owe my yoga experience to my love of video games. My hobby dictates that I spend little time exercising, and a lot of time in various gaming postures, most of which involve hunching over some sort of screen. Needless to say, out of shape and having constant lower back pain, some exercise could’ve done me some good. After trying Bikram’s Hot Yoga, my dad recommended that I try their opening special of $10 for unlimited access to the studio for 10 days. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I humoured him and went.

Now I’d heard a lot about yoga from my mother, a woman who has dabbled in every “new-age” trend in existence. I mean not only had I heard about yoga, but I had heard about different types of meditation, crystal healing, herbal medicine or anything else that she was currently into. None of these things interested me whatsoever and I thought of it mainly as a scam. I figured I’d go to one class or two classes, make my dad happy, and then go back to trying to complete every last quest in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
 
While I did eventually go back to completing that goal, I was wrong about only going for a few classes. By the end of the week I ended signing up for a year long membership and buying a mat. What made the decision for me was that the class worked. There was no hocus-pocus to it, no bunny-out-of-a-hat trick, but quick and noticeable results. My back felt great, I was relaxed, and I felt like I had purged my usual diet of Pepsi, coffee and chips out of my system, leaving me clean and refreshed.

I’ve continued going to class for the past few months and have noticed even more benefits. Certain postures have become easy, and in some I’ve advanced to the point where they seem infinitely harder. My balance, coordination and flexibility have all improved and all the things I noticed in my first week have carried over.

Quite simply this class has helped me immensely. I feel good and I occasionally get exercise. What it really comes down to is this; anything that allows me to play as many video games as I want without having my back hurt afterwards is good, indispensable really.

If you are into sports, this form of yoga is great for improving your flexibility, coordination and your overall performance. If you’re not into sports, or any kind of physical activity, Bikram’s Hot Yoga is a great way to supplement the lack of exercise in your life. I recommend trying it at least once wholeheartedly.


Namaste.