I (accidentally) Tried Bikram Yoga

For those of you who don't know me - from January to April of 2019 I took a registered yoga teacher training. 200 hours of yoga total spread out over the weekends of 3 months. I love yoga. It feels amazing while you are doing and even more amazing after doing it. I have been practicing yoga for a few years now and found my niche in power yoga, combining athleticism and flexibility. As an athlete, I love power yoga because it helps me to improve my endurance and muscle strength, without causing undue stress on my joints. 

I would say that I am always opened to trying new things and love finding new gyms to try out or types of workouts to mix up my normal routine. Now that gyms are opened again in Philadelphia, I was pumped to look for a new yoga studio to try out. I just moved back to the area from Santa Monica, CA so everything is new to me right now in Philly.

 After some googling on Friday night, I found a cute little yoga studio on Sansom Street in Center City, offering hot yoga in person. I read over the COVID guidelines and after I was assured that it was a safe place to be inside, I signed up. I was so pumped for my first in-person yoga class in over 7 months. After driving around for way too long to find a parking spot (thank god I left myself extra time!), I headed up 3 floors into the studio. Upon entering I was promptly greeted and felt welcomed immediately. The lady at the desk asked me if I had ever done the type of yoga they were offering before and I responded with "Oh, power yoga? Yeah, of course." She went on to tell me that I was actually at a Bikram Yoga class.

 Going into this class, most of the things that I knew about Bikram Yoga came from the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast that I had listened to about it and that podcast did not put it in the best light. Things I knew about Bikram Yoga included -
 1. It is a series of 26 postures over 90 minutes performed in a hot and humid room that Bikram unsuccessfully tried to copyright
 2. It is kind of cult-y: studios had to have a franchise and people paid up to $50/class (I paid $25)
 3. Bikram was accused of sexual assault, racism and homophobia forcing him out of the USA
 4. Bikram encourages you to push yourself to the point of pain
 5. It is very structured and there are (or at least were) quite a few rules regarding the practice

Knowing only this much about the practice I was a bit nervous going into the studio. I was one of three people in the class who had not done it before, so I was glad that there were people in the same boat as me. The practice started with the three of us watching while the experienced students performed a sequence of breathing with simultaneous head and arm movements including significant neck extension. When we were able to join in, I almost immediately started feeling pain in the back of my neck, which was concerning for me as a physical therapist and someone without any neck issues or previous neck pain. This went on for quite a while and I was so relieved when it was over.

The rest of the class went similar to this - with some traditional yoga poses, but also feeling pain in places that I have never had pain before. Throughout the class, the instructor was nice but also strict. Everything had to be perfect which is something that feels so off to me during a yoga practice. In my opinion, yoga is about practicing, not about trying to be perfect.

When we were getting to the end of the 26 postures, I was exhausted, in pain and PUMPED for shavasana, or the final relaxation pose, which is an important part of the practice to let the body return to baseline and absorb the practice. The shavasana lasted no longer than 30 seconds and I felt like by the time I laid down, it was over.

I left with mixed feelings. I am glad I tried something new and different but its not for me. It was painful and exhausting. I didn't leave feeling happy and relaxed like I usually do after yoga. As I write this over 24 hours later, my neck is still hurting in ways that it hasn't ever hurt before.

Someone remind me that next time I am going to sign up for a yoga class after a couple of glasses of wine to read the description first and send any good power yoga recommendations in Philly my way!