Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Bikram Yoga - Nearly 2 Months of Practice

Are you ready for Christmas?
It's been nearly 8 weeks since I started my Bikram yoga practice. I can't believe how much better I feel in just 2 months. I didn't take up hot yoga to lose weight and I haven't lost much, just a couple pounds but my total body shape has changed. Last week I went to try on jeans and found I could fit into a size 6! Two months ago, I was wearing a size 10.

Besides losing inches, I've noticed other improvements. I am able to do all the poses and get a little further into each one and as I go about my day, I have much less joint pain. I used to pretty much ache from head to toe. My fingers were stiff and when I sat down for very long, my knees and feet would be stiff and painful when I started walking. All that is gone.

My stomach if flatter and I've lost another half inch from my waist measurement. I haven't really been eating any less either. My diet is lots of fruits and veggies anyway but with the holidays, everybody eats a little more sugar and bigger meals. I feel like if I stick to my hot yoga practice, then I won't have to worry about gaining weight over the holidays. Those size 6 pants are always a good incentive too!

One of the biggest improvements I've seen is that I feel less stressed with the holiday madness. I don't have that knot in my stomach which tells me I am not getting enough done in my day. I feel calm and peaceful actually.

It isn't always easy to make time to go to class, which lasts 90 minutes. This week too, I have to go to my granddaughter's Christmas program at the usual time I'd go to hot yoga so I need to get in another day at some point. Usually, on Thursdays I don't go to yoga because I have tai chi in the mornings but since my husband is playing golf on Thursday afternoon, I'm going to yoga for the 5 pm class. I'm trying to get in at least 4 days a week.

At some point, I want to go through all the hot yoga poses and talk about the challenges of each one and what to do about them. If you have any tips you'd like to share about your own practice, I'd love to hear from you.


I've found lots of valuable info on the Hot Yoga Doctor forum to help me improve my poses. It's free to sign up. There are also free downloads about hot yoga and a great email newsletter. 

In the Hot Yoga Doctor Store you can find audios and videos to help you in your Bikram yoga practice. I put one of the hot yoga audios on my ipod and listen to it a couple of times a week.This audio will be invaluable when I travel and can't get to the studio.

1 comment:

  1. Yes hot yoga is beneficial for all people. They can burn their body fat easily through this effective exercise. Neck pain

    ReplyDelete