trin

Hmm. Do you have very tight quadriceps. If so, I wonder if, in in the poses you mentioned, the quadriceps are pulling tightly over your femoral nerve and causing the pain? Seeing a massage therapist, or someone else who can do an assessment, and then release the quads, or any other muscles around the area, can really help.

I’ve been reading this thread with great interest and I both agree and disagree with some of the points brought up. My experience with Bikram, on the whole, has been positive. I do think, however, that some instructors are a little too focused on the dialogue and as result aren’t as effective as teachers as they could be. That said, I have noticed in the last few weeks that a few of the teachers have really developed as teachers. They now spend a little more time helping students who are struggling with a posture, giving tips to the class as a whole, etc., rather than just focusing on the dialogue to try and get people to push further into the poses. For example, I had been trying for a while to get into toe stand but couldn’t do it. I just assumed I was too tight around the hips and wouldn’t be able to do it unless I opened up a bit more. But one of the instructors took the time in a class and showed me how to do it and voila! I was actually able to get into it. Just barely, mind you, but I did.

These few instructors, IMO, are teaching because they love it and they want to develop their teaching skills

On the other hand, there are a couple of teachers at the studio who appear to use the dialogue to try and motivate people to work hard, rather than actually teach them the correct alignment. I have seen people in class who clearly shouldn’t be trying to get into a posture but the teacher hasn’t noticed that they are going about it the wrong way because they are too focused on what they are saying and not what the class participants are actually doing

IMHO, it takes people awhile to develop the body awareness to be able to actually hear and take in what the instructor is saying. Some people take longer than others. One problem with the dialogue, I think, is that there are so many commands that some people may only take in one or two things, and miss out on some other important instructions. I am very much like that – I’ll hear a couple of things and that’s all I’ll think about and sometimes it takes awhile for the other things to sink in.

In addition, sometimes there is so much dialogue that I just tune out completely and miss all the corrections and instructions. Not always a bad thing, maybe, because occasionally I have gone to class when I have been tired and just wanted to go at my own pace

I love Bikram, but IMO, I think it is a little bit too intense for people who are completely new to fitness and who are very overweight. 90 minutes in the heat is actually a long time for a first workout, even if there is the opportunity to sit or lie down in the room. I have seen people go to their first class and have to sit down for most of it because they felt they had to keep up and it was too much. Yes, I know, they should be encouraged to go at their own pace, but some people feel embarrassed if they can’t keep up. Many were demoralized, and I think it must be overwhelming and intimidating to think about going to another class. So if the dialogue were slowed down so new people don’t feel they have to push so hard to keep up, and instead more focus put on helping new people achieve success in some of the postures, might be a better method. Just my opinion. I’ve done another type of hot yoga that is exactly like that and it was great. I do love the Bikram as well, though.

Hi cyco, I’m sorry to hear about your insomnia. I have suffered from that for quite a while and I know how debilitating it can be. I got quite desperate, and after trying many things, I have found that Reiki has helped the most. I did a level 1 Reiki course, and now practice it on myself every night just before going to bed. I have found that my jumpy thoughts have settled down significantly, and I am able to relax and sleep much better. That ability to relax has also carried over in my daily life and into my hot yoga practice.

Another thing that I did was see a holistic life coach. It turned out I had a parasite infection (yes, I know- gross, but much more common than I would have thought). I had travelled to a foreign country and gotten ill, so that’s where I think I picked it up. I got rid of the parasite, and that helped me sleep better too. The reason a parasite can cause restlessness and insomnia is because they have the opposite sleep/wake cycle to humans, and they are active at night & keep their host awake.

Just as a note – poor digestion, fatigue & heart palpitations can be symptoms of a parasite. Could be worth going to a naturopath or holistic healthcare practitioner for some ideas

Good luck! I hope you can get some sleep!

Hi Kim, I just thought I’d add my 2 cents (and worth every penny I’m sure!:-P). Cramping can be a sign of both dehydration, and paradoxically, hyponatremia as well.

You mention you are drinking plenty of water, but I wonder if it’s really enough? You are in the hot room quite a lot, and even though you may not be practicing, you are still sweating a lot when you teach. Sometimes people think they are drinking a lot, but in reality they aren’t getting enough water for what their body needs. General recommendations are to divide your body weight (in pounds) and drink half of that in fluid ounces. So if you weight 120 pounds, drink 60 fl. oz. You need to drink even more if you are doing hot yoga, teaching, etc.

An easy way to find out if you are dehydrated is to weight yourself without clothes before a class, then again afterward. You should be the same weight, if not, you have lost too much fluid and need to replace it.

Hyponatremia, (low blood sodium) on the other hand, can also cause cramping. This is caused by drinking too much water without replacing electrolytes An easy way to help prevent this is to add some unprocessed sea salt or Himalayan rock salt to all your water. This will particularly help if you are drinking purified water which has been stripped of all its minerals

I hope that helps!