hannahjustbreathe

We’re all so different, aren’t we?

I’m a hell of a sweater, but I totally embrace it in my practice. Makes me feel as though my body is working well, flushing everything out, detoxifying, cleansing. In fact, if I don’t have a good sweat going by the third part of awkward–at the very latest!–I tend to wonder whether the heat/humidity is lower than usual.

Also, it surprises me that more teachers don’t comment on how important it is NOT to wipe the sweat away, that your body is simply trying to cool itself, and that each time you try to dry yourself off, you’re actually making your body work harder.

But, whether you sweat a lot or a little, it’s the effort that counts, right?

Hi Contessa,

In my practice, I’ve found that if I have a head cold, going to yoga actually helps quite a bit. Gross as it may sound, you “drain” a lot! Also, I like thinking I’m sweating the sickness out of me. And, most of all, I find class particularly mentality therapuetic when I’m under the weather—just having someone tell me over and over again to breathe and let go and relax when I feel crappy is fantastic! That said, if you have a fever (or are contagious and coughing up half your lung), I can’t imagine anything other than rest and fluids is good for your body.

I think the best you can do is go to class, keep in mind that you’re not 100 percent, and treat your practice accordingly—resting when you need to, taking it easy, and staying hydrated throughout class. Everyone handles illness differently, though. To each her own!

Hope you feel better soon!

Hi all,

From my own experience, I’ve found that the longer I stay in savasana at the end of the class, the better (i.e., less sore) I feel the next day. We’re always in such a rush to get out of the room as soon as class is over, but that means your body doesn’t get a chance to relax and, as our teachers say, “reap the benefits” of all the hard work we’ve just done. Even if I lay still for just an extra five or ten minutes, I feel like a totally different yogi.

The same could probably be said for getting into savasana quickly throughout the class as well.

Good luck!

Hannah

Hi Popcorn (ha, nice name),

Hurray for embarking on the 30-day challenge!! I did one in February and loved, loved, loved it. Wait. Let me rephrase that: I loved, loved, loved how I felt at the end of it. I’ll share a few of my general thoughts/observations about my experience in the hopes it’ll help you or, at the very least, just give you someone else’s perspective.

First 10 Days: Amazing, wonderful, exhilarating. I was so proud of myself for what I was doing and my body felt surprisingly good. I tried to mix up my class times to give my body a rest (ex: Saturday, 9 a.m. class then Sunday 4 p.m. class) and to test my body at different times of day. Some people hate the sunrise classes, but I always enjoy my practice much, much more in the mornings. Less people, more personalized attention, empty stomach, peaceful mind. Plus, the hardest thing about a challenge is how much time it takes up going to yoga everyday, so hitting the studio first thing in the morning at least gives you free nights.

Second 10 Days: Horrible, awful, exhausting. Sounds negative, I know, but it’s the truth. By day 14, I vividly remember breaking down and telling one of my teachers I didn’t think I could finish. I just felt SOOOO tired and icky and wobbly–in and out of class. Maybe it was just me, but keep an eye out for the mid-way-through blues. It was at this point that I realized I needed to do a much better job of drinking more than just water (i.e., coconut water, Smartwater, Emergen-C) after every class (and throughout the day) to get some electrolytes back into my system. This was especially important because I totally and completely lost my appetite, so I wasn’t eating a whole lot either. Bad combo. I made a conscientious effort to eat more protein, too.

Third 10 Days: Back to amazing, wonderful, exhilarating. I fell in love with Bikram in a whole new way toward the end of my challenge. In fact, I felt so great, I continued for another 12 days, so really, I did a 42 day challenge. 🙂

The thing you must remember when you head into each class, though, is that you’re going to feel different. The days you assume you’ll feel amazing, you might feel terrible. And the days you trudge into the studio thinking you want to be anywhere by there, you’ll have a rockstar practice. So it goes. Just try not to anticipate, try not to judge, try to breathe every last drop of extra air into your lungs—those are the little tricks that will give you the most peace and satisfaction in the end.

Keep us posted on your progress! And good luck!

Namaste,
Hannah

p.s. I kept a blog while I did my challenge: http://hannahjustbreathe.wordpress.com. The month of February is my challenge month, but I have some other random yoga posts throughout!

Yes, this happened to me, too.

The way I rationalized the soreness was that I was moving to new places in my practice–and, more importantly, my body. In feeling stronger and more confident in class, I pushed myself further. And, in pushing myself further, I tapped into new muscles, worked through untapped tension, and stretched my muscles further. All of that is going to lead to increased soreness.

But that soreness is good, healthy. It means you’re pushing your body to a place it hadn’t reached yesterday. And that’s what this yoga is all about, right?

The most important thing to remember is to keep going to class, even if your muscles ache. Because class will help get all that lactic acid out of your muscles, which will only make you feel better!!

Good luck! And, always, namaste.

Hannah

Hi Josie,

I think part of the reason why you’re encouraged to take “rest” days from running, weight lifting, etc., is because those are activities that actually break down your muscles, which means your body needs a chance to rebuild and recover. Any impact sport is incredibly strenuous on your joints, bones, and muscles. Bikram yoga, on the other hand, is all about rebuilding your muscles and your body’s many, many systems during each class, meaning you don’t need a day off. Your daily class serves as your body’s chance to recover, if that makes sense.

In fact, once I was in the last 10 days of my 30-day challenge, I didn’t even want to a day off. I felt amazing. If I had a rocky class one day, then the next day’s class would be my chance to rebuild my practice and to prepare for the next class.

Now that I’m done my challenge and back to my four/five classes a week, I’ve noticed my practice just isn’t the same as it was during those 30 days. It takes me longer to get into what I like to call “my yoga frame of mind,” and I have to make much more of a concentrated effort to remind myself to breathe, to go slowly, to be mindful. When you’re going to class every single day, your practice becomes more and more refined, meaning you can get to your meditative state easier and faster and gain greater benefits, physically, spiritually, mentally, etc.

If I had the time, I would most certainly be at class each and every day. In my opinion, “rest days” from Bikram actually make it harder–not easier!–to maintain a strong, consistent practice.

Hannah

Such a great response, Gabrielle! I read it twice to make sure I had everything, because half moon is one of the more challenging poses for me. It’s taken me nearly a year and a half to fully appreciate it.

I’ve moved very, very slowly in this posture and kept the line “length is more important than depth” as my mantra. I spent months focusing on just getting my shoulders to open up and to make sure my arms were perfectly straight and my biceps were behind my ears. Then, I spent a few more months working on pushing my hips out slightly *before* bringing my body out and down to the side. Then, I concentrated on “flattening” my body to the mirror–this is where I am now. Trying to make sure my shoulders and hips are all in one line is so hard!

I’m confident my set up is strong, and I usually feel okay in the pose so long as I remember to breathe, but what I’ve begun to notice lately is a strange cramping sensation in my back. If we’re going down to the right, the dull ache is in on my left side, right at the base of my back. I asked one of my teachers about it, and he told me to make sure I was reaching and stretching up and not “sinking” into or creating compression in my back.

Hmm. The thing is, I *do* feel as though I’m lengthening, to the point where I’ve noticed muscle soreness along my armpits and ribs. Do you think the soreness could be from trying to “flatten” my hips and shoulders? If so, how do I correct/avoid that? Or could it be because I’m coming down too far?

A bit of an all-over-the-place question and post–apologies. But, as always, any and all insights are appreciated. 🙂

Hi Edge,

Balancing stick used to be my least favorite posture of the series. Now, go figure, it’s one of my favorites. I can’t say much in response to the fear factor (Gabrielle???), but I can try to address the second question in your post.

I’ve found the key to this posture is tightening/extending/stretching every muscle in my body, “from my fingertips to my toes,” from the very first second. As soon as you take the “big step forward,” before tilting down into the posture, give yourself one nano-second and tighten up everything. The reason you fall out of the posture, more often than not, is because you lose your balance, i.e., your muscles go slack. The balance comes from stretching your fingers forward as hard as you can and pointing your toes backwards as hard as you can. I know, I know, sounds easier said than done. What isn’t?!

Another thing about this postures is that because it’s so short, it’s even more important to shut your mind off and just breathe and let your body work. Your mind will tell you it’s tired, it wants the posture to be over, it wants to fall out. But, you’re in balancing stick for only 10-15 seconds. Your breath and your body can do anything for 10-15 seconds.

Good luck! And keep us posted. 🙂

Hannah