Here is the latest log of my Bikram yoga practice. You can find the full list I have kept since April 2011 when I started regularly practicing on the Bikram Yoga Journey tab on this website! –> Bikram Yoga Journey
I have been practicing since April 2011 and will be starting a 60 day challenge on January 1, so I am gearing up for the new year by going to yoga nearly every day. I have received many health benefits since starting. My biggest change has been the strengthening of my back and lessening of hernia scar pain as well as much less pain in my body overall. I have greater flexibility and strength in my body as a whole, which makes me feel so much younger. I have become very in tune with what is going on with my body, quit anti-anxiety medications, quit eating gluten, and my menstrual cramps are greatly reduced (so much that I went off the pill!).
I am feeling better every day and look forward to my future rather than dreading it!
December 12, 2011 – class 97.
Heart is *really* not beating wildly in my chest at times during class since I stopped taking the pill. I wonder how BCP affects blood pressure, even in healthy people. The strength in my pelvic area has come back since my monthly ended, and my low back is hurting much less than it has ever been since I started yoga. One of my goals is to do a sit-up in class, and I can tell my abdomen is much more engaged when my back is not in pain. The muscles around my hernia scar are not cramping up like the used to – hope this continues! This is the fourth time I went to yoga this last week – ramping up for 60 day challenge starting Jan 1, 2012!
December 10, 2011 – class 96.
I haven’t felt my heart race in class since I quit taking the pill. Going to keep checking in on that to see if it makes a difference. Hopefully I can hold poses for longer without my heart pumping so hard. Had a very hard time holding a couple of standing poses today – standing head to knee, standing bow pose, and balancing stick – absolutely no strength in my pelvic area. But I am experiencing a painful monthly so that is probably why. I planning on doing yoga as much as possible before the 60 day challenge starts so I hoping doing daily yoga this next month does some deep healing in me hormonally and in the core of my belly. Also – having to adjust some foods again. Digestion is changing with the elimination of the pill. Should be a much healthier life from now on though without those
hormones in my system.
December 9, 2011 – class 95.
I felt strong and flexible in today’s class – not an ounce of fatigue. I have more energy right
now and felt incredibly happy in class. I haven’t gotten that shoulder fixed by the chiropractor yet, hopefully I will have time to go next week. Feeling pretty crampy from my monthly, but its not as bad as it used to be. Sure hoping to feel some good stable hormones in my body after practicing this yoga for almost eight months.
December 7, 2011 – class 94.
Class seemed to speed by today – I felt strong and enjoyed myself, felt emotionally calm as
well. Got through every pose once and a few twice with no troubles, though I can feel some cartilage needs to be loosened up with Yin yoga. Biking has stabilized my low back. Still need to visit the chiropractor to fix my arm, but overall feeling pretty good!
We start a 60 day challenge on Jan 1 – and I am going for it! Also just went off the BCP for the first time in 7 years to see how my body functions on her own. Looking forward to a great time of cleansing and renewing and being completely at home in my body. Bringing in the New Year strong!
November 30, 2011 – class 93.
Sometimes I am extremely uncomfortable in class because I feel overheated. It takes everything inside of me to not leave the classroom and have a meltdown in the lobby. But there is something amazing that happens when we take on the internal conversation, “I can’t”.
Today a woman actually left halfway thru class and was yelling in the hallway during our
first savasana. I thought it ironic that our instructor was having us relax completely while she was having a fit. I wonder how many of us were lying there thinking about doing the same exact thing. And we have all been in that spot where we have lost it inside of “I can’t”. What is possible in our lives when we take on an exercise that helps us move beyond “I
can’t”.
I tried Bikram yoga four times over five years and couldn’t deal with the heat. I finally got to the point in my life where I wanted to move past not being able to deal with it. So in a big way, I am forging a path into a life that is unprecedented by my past, because my body is doing something unlike anything I have ever done in my past. What a great way to open up a bright new future, down to my flesh and bones.
November 28, 2011 – class 92.
I missed one class along the way – my official number of classes taken is 92! My body is feeling great overall and I have pretty much mastered checking in with my body each class. My body keeps feeling better; as time goes by I have more strength and flexibility, not just physically but emotionally and mentally as well. I notice that my bike riding makes my muscles tighter, so then I am stretching them back out in class. My left shoulder still
hurts, so going to take it to my chiropractor to adjust.
I continue to have weakness in my right hip and pelvis which affects my practice – I have had problems for years in this area of my body – around my hip, in my abdomen and down my leg because of the scar adhesions. If I could get that laparoscopy done on my scar adhesions from the hernia, I could have such a better practice and life overall without this pain. I am happy it is something that can be fixed, and not some degenerative disc or deep seated emotional problem. Here is hoping for a good job so I can afford it someday soon! And still Bikram yoga practice has helped this injury more than any other exercise has – ever! I am still hopeful that I can fully heal this issue with Bikram yoga.
November 23, 2011 – class 90.
Tonight I practiced and it was divine. I am often completely in love with this practice, because I can feel changes in my body as they come. I started having tightness in my left arm and have no idea why. It would have been unnoticeable to me normally, but I can feel it in practice and give it some good stretching. My body overall is feeling much stronger.
I am still struggling with my abdominal muscles in practice so am starting to do some Yin yoga pelvic and back stretching at home along with a few classic vinyasa flow sun salutations. Yin is also one of my favorite forms of yoga because it works solely on the connective tissue, while vinyasa flow works on everything. Because of my particular body issues, I find doing other forms of yoga to augment my Bikram practice is very wise. Doing yoga in a 105 degree room is very different than doing yoga in a 70 degree room. The warm
up and sequencing are very different.
So I am very excited to now feel well versed in Bikram and Yin from regular practice and Vinyasa Flow from my teacher training last summer. Here’s to a flexible and healthy middle life…
November 18, 2011 – class 89.
The changing of the weather this last month has affected my vitality in a big way. I have literally been too tired and in pain to go to yoga much. Releasing emotional energy has taken up most of my energy as well, as I have been going through a lot of life changes and having to let go of a few people I didn’t want to let go of.
I finally am adjusted to the cold and dark of this time of year and was craving the warm humid room and yoga practice. I notice my body is not as strong and flexible as usual, so I was feeling like a beginner all over again, but in a good way. My mind is very relaxed after the focus and structure of my practice though, and my soul is feeling stronger again. I am planning on sleeping early tonight in freshly washed sheets and having blissful dreams.
That stumble I took the other night dislodged something that has caused a lot of binding pain in my hip and low back. My practice was so much easier tonight because of that. Though I was sore from falling, its nothing like the pain I have felt this last month. Thank goodness for life’s little miracles.
November 7, 2011 – class 88.
Tonight was such a deep healing night. I drove 160 miles this weekend with a lot of stop and go traffic. Because of my hernia scar, I had a spasming right psoas muscle that was jerking around my back and making my digestion miserable. Usually after that kind of driving, it takes a couple weeks for the muscle to relax, but tonight I got some deep stretches in and balance is being restored. My sustenance was strong and I had zero
overheating…
November 3, 2011 – class 87.
Went to class tonight and my muscles felt very stiff and tight. Though I had muscle strength, I had little mobility. I was too emotionally exhausted this last week so I didn’t go to practice, but I felt emotionally strong tonight. I seem to be moving to a higher plateau of devotion to my practice, because I have seen the mental and emotional strength I have
gained over these last six months. I will be stepping up and attending more days so I can move through this next phase of life with strength and flexibility…
October 25, 2011 – class 86.
Feeling very tired and overheated… and my back has been going through some issues so it was difficult to do anything. Going to chiropractor tomorrow and taking a few days off to heal up.
October 18, 2011 – class 85.
No overheating tonight, my heart and lungs seem to be working ok for once, but had to be careful with my low back as its been too sore to even bend over or sit up. I am hoping someday to be able to afford an MRI so I can know what is going on in there, if anything. Maybe I am simply pushing myself too hard in class?
The stretching and strengthening have been so helpful for my overall health. I was exhausted yesterday from three days of job search and not being able to sleep – and instead of having a meltdown wondering when I am going to get sick, I just took an antihistamine/tylenol and went to sleep. Doing this yoga makes me feel more rational and less emotional about life in general, even the real bad parts which there are a lot of right now.
Amazing what a good workout and good night’s sleep will do to an outlook.
October 13, 2011 – class 84.
Tonight I got through class without feeling overheated once. That spasm in my mid back has disappeared. I find it strange that one area of my back will spasm one day, and it seems like it moves to another part of my body! Tonight I had no spasm, but a lot of hip popping. Weird. Each session seems to relax the area that was in distress and the pain is gone within a day or two. I wasn’t too limber, so I took it easy with my stretches.
I also talked to a recruiter about a job today and felt very confident while speaking to her about the position. That is SO the work of almost six months of Bikram. And then I was more focused in class because of feeling that confidence today. Pretty awesome!
October 11, 2011 – class 83.
I have been avoiding going to Bikram class because parts of my spine and muscles hurt too much after. I took it easy tonight and feel very grateful for my practice as I am feeling VERY relaxed after a stressful few days. BUT it was a heart beating hard to breathe night tonight. I have been very flushed lately, and can tell I have a spine subluxation on the backside of my heart and lungs (3rd-5th thoracic is my weak spot where its bent a little to the left, so a rib gets pinched as well). I could feel every part of my body that needs to get adjusted at the chiropractor – so I can get into my next phase of healing in yoga.
