yogalifer

I discovered the Beauty Tubes too. That mascara is perfect for Bikram. I would think that wearing false eyelashes during class would be about as comfortable as wearing a sweater. Yuck!

I am.

Be careful with that one. I injured my hamstrings in that area and dealt with that injury for a few years before giving in and going to a physical therapist last summer. I’m better now, but am cautious to keep it from happening again. In my case, I think that I got the original injury from aggressive overstretching in an air-conditioned room (not Bikram yoga). As I continued yoga and other exercise with the injury, my hamstrings developed more and more scar tissue and lost flexibility AND strength. The loss in flexibility in the belly of the hamstring muscle caused injury in the connection at the very top of the hamstrings and became more and more painful. I was AMAZED at how demonstratively weak my hamstrings were by the time that I went to the physical therapist.

Bikram toned my body all over. My eating habits also changed without any real thought on my part. It just happened. I was already in pretty good shape when I started, but I saw some very real results after about 1-2 months.

I sweat a lot during yoga and my shoulder length hair is usually wet to the ends by the end of class. I always wash it after yoga as it has all this sweat and product on it. Is rinsing sufficient to keep your hair clean? Also, I have to at least get my hair wet in the morning to be able to style it. Otherwise it has bumps and cowlicks. All this said, my hair definitely gets dry when I am going to yoga frequently.

Gabrielle – I am also wondering what steps you follow. Do you rinse after yoga? Do you use conditioner every time? How do you keep from having product build-up?

I have had the lower back pain in Savasana as well. This might sound funny, but it works for me. I visualize my inhaled breath going to the area of discomfort and I visualize it as a color-usually dark red in this case. I see a flow of color spreading out in waves over the sore area. I get almost immediate relief when I do this. I am assuming that the technique just helps me relax the muscles there.

Sending you healing thoughts, Amy. As a by the way, my sister (who is 40 years old) has had to have both of her hips replaced due to a degenerative condition. Initially they thought that she had arthritis, but that wasn’t it. They never actually pinpointed exactly what caused the degeneration, but it was clear that she needed the replacements. She has been very active–working out daily in spite of the pain. She’s also an emergency room nurse–so on her feet a lot. She was walking four miles in a day within a few weeks of the surgery and is functioning generally much better than before. She is having to learn how to fix her gait and walk properly after having years of pain. I guess that my point is that she has been able to continue with her activity level after hip replacement surgery. If you come to that I have no doubt that you will too given your high level of commitment.

After I had been practicing yoga for some time, I went through a period when camel was very uncomfortable in the thyroid area. It was almost like a tendon or muscle was out of place. It was pulling across the thyroid area and actually pulling my tongue back. It was the strangest sensation. After about a month it stopped, though. I’m not sure if my analysis of my problem is even possible, but that’s what it felt like. 🙂

When I started going to Bikram seriously, I noticed that I no longer had the same desire for alcohol or soda. I notice that when I have down times when I don’t go as frequently I tend to go ahead and have a soda or drink a little more wine.

I think that the desire went away for many reasons, but have you ever gone to a Saturday morning class with a hangover? OUCH!

RandomFemale – I LOVE your pic!