Before going to class, one is confronted with absolute dread, "Nooo.. dont do this to yourself, its painful.... it's so comfortable here wherever you are, why do you want to torture yourself?" (And 20 mins of self-motivating, rallying up people around you to find any excuse not to go ensues which usually doesn't work because no one wants to encourage laziness and idleness)
And then you drag your feet to the yoga center and get greeted by friendly smiles, "Welcome back! Hello sweetie how are you!" and you get pushed to the locker room for a change. Unsure whether to be cheered up or irritated by their perkiness, you change clothes grudgingly.
When you enter the yoga room, the hot air engulfs you and you feel a bead of sweat forming in your back almost immediately, instantly regretting your decision. You lie down on the mat (and usually you don't get the mat you want) and everyone starts looking at the new person that walks in. You do a few poses to stretch and act like you know what you are doing but actually just want to be doing something so people dont keep staring at you and you pray for another "new" person to walk in so everyone can shift attention.
The Yogi comes in and asks everyone to stand up and start with a breathing exercise that I can only describe as a pain in the neck. Literally. You breathe in and out deeply 10 x 2 sets which seems to lasts forever and leaves this ache in your shoulders and neck when its over. By the end of the breathing exercise, everyone has little beads of perspiration sprinkled all over their scantily clad bodies.
Next comes the rest of the 26 postures in Hot Bikram Yoga, each one requiring its own specific techniques, depth and utilize different set of muscles. Each demanding your utmost concentration, your strength and endurance in holding the pose and your patience in not shouting to the person next to you "stop tripping and making me distracted la!". Then again, maybe thats only me, other people might be thinking, "see i can do this better, stretch longer and deeper, pull harder, my freaking ears can touch my knees. Haha look at your inflexible and flabby body, why you come here for."
In between these 26 postures, your mind starts morphing into a zen state, fully concentrating on the class and poses and you have temporarily forgotten about any worries, happiness, person, situation, complication outside the room. You breathe in another breath of hot air and pull harder and push your body to concentrate on the poses. When you lie down, you feel peace and a sense of accomplishment at finishing your exercise and pushing your body.
When the class ends, you wish the yoga "Namaste" and leave to the locker room for a shower. Once you walk out of the yoga center, you feel the heat within yourself start to spead across your body. You continue perspiring throughout at a decreasing rate but your energy level is heightened and you feel more alert. You appreciate things around you and you are literally at peace in whatever you are doing. This Zen-state and increased alertness stays with you at least until you head to bed.
And then you are thankful for going to Yoga. So... Thank you for those that did not encourage me to skip it.
And then you drag your feet to the yoga center and get greeted by friendly smiles, "Welcome back! Hello sweetie how are you!" and you get pushed to the locker room for a change. Unsure whether to be cheered up or irritated by their perkiness, you change clothes grudgingly.
When you enter the yoga room, the hot air engulfs you and you feel a bead of sweat forming in your back almost immediately, instantly regretting your decision. You lie down on the mat (and usually you don't get the mat you want) and everyone starts looking at the new person that walks in. You do a few poses to stretch and act like you know what you are doing but actually just want to be doing something so people dont keep staring at you and you pray for another "new" person to walk in so everyone can shift attention.
The Yogi comes in and asks everyone to stand up and start with a breathing exercise that I can only describe as a pain in the neck. Literally. You breathe in and out deeply 10 x 2 sets which seems to lasts forever and leaves this ache in your shoulders and neck when its over. By the end of the breathing exercise, everyone has little beads of perspiration sprinkled all over their scantily clad bodies.
Next comes the rest of the 26 postures in Hot Bikram Yoga, each one requiring its own specific techniques, depth and utilize different set of muscles. Each demanding your utmost concentration, your strength and endurance in holding the pose and your patience in not shouting to the person next to you "stop tripping and making me distracted la!". Then again, maybe thats only me, other people might be thinking, "see i can do this better, stretch longer and deeper, pull harder, my freaking ears can touch my knees. Haha look at your inflexible and flabby body, why you come here for."
In between these 26 postures, your mind starts morphing into a zen state, fully concentrating on the class and poses and you have temporarily forgotten about any worries, happiness, person, situation, complication outside the room. You breathe in another breath of hot air and pull harder and push your body to concentrate on the poses. When you lie down, you feel peace and a sense of accomplishment at finishing your exercise and pushing your body.
When the class ends, you wish the yoga "Namaste" and leave to the locker room for a shower. Once you walk out of the yoga center, you feel the heat within yourself start to spead across your body. You continue perspiring throughout at a decreasing rate but your energy level is heightened and you feel more alert. You appreciate things around you and you are literally at peace in whatever you are doing. This Zen-state and increased alertness stays with you at least until you head to bed.
And then you are thankful for going to Yoga. So... Thank you for those that did not encourage me to skip it.
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