Hot Yoga Vs. Bikram Yoga

I usually go to Bikram Yoga Classes (at Bikram Yoga Farmington...come and say hello some time!!!), but tonight at the Fuller Movement Center, they are having a free introductory "Hot Yoga" class, and I am going to take it. I am not sure how much different it will be from Bikram Yoga, but I will surely keep you posted.

My friend Katie (who dances with me in Soma Dance Company) will be taking her first EVER Hot Yoga class (never taken Bikram either...) so I will be sure to tell you know she liked it too!

Namaste!

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We went to the Hot Yoga Class last night! Myself, my dancer friend Katie, and 2 of my YogaDirect co-workers, Tom and Colleen went as well. None of us have been to a "Hot Yoga" class, but Colleen and I had been to Bikram Yoga before and were anxious to see what the differences were between the two styles of Yoga in a heated room. Here's the differences we noticed:

The Atmosphere:

Bikram Yoga Class is strict. As soon as you walk into class, you begin your meditation. You only use energy to move and talking is not allowed in the room.

Hot Yoga on the other hand, was a bit more lenient when it came to class etiquette. Everyone was smiling and the room felt more relaxed. There was (rock!) music playing and no one got yelled at for talking.

The Heat

Bikram Yoga- Walking into a Bikram Yoga class is like walking into a wall of heat. There is no escaping it and you just have to learn to deal with it ASAP.

Hot Yoga- The heat was less intense, and it felt more dry. It really wasn't unbearable at all, except Tom was right next to one of the heaters and remarked that at times he couldn't take the heat anymore and wanted to leave the room!

The First Pose

Bikram Yoga begins each class with the breathing exercises. They are supposed to warm you up from the inside out and set your breathing pattern for the whole class.

Hot Yoga class began in Child's Pose, and the instructor, Adrienne talked us through bringing air into our lungs like bringing gas into a car's gas tank. Then slowly, she had us pressing down into the floor using our energy, and before we knew it we were in Sun Salutation headquarters.

Sweating

Bikram Yoga class makes me sweat from the moment I walk into the room until I get home and into the shower. When i leave Bikram class I am completely COVERED in sweat, and so is my towel, and my Yoga Mat.

Hot Yoga class didn't have me sweating until the 2nd set of Warriors, and from then on I sweat a lot! The only thing I didn't like about sweating in this particular class was that we did so many inverted postures that sweat kept dripping in my eyes and there was nothing I could do about it. At the end, I left pretty sweaty, but not as bad as if I had been in a Bikram Yoga Class.

The Postures

Bikram Yoga has the same 26 postures in the same order every single class. There's no surprises and I know exactly what pose is coming next and how to prepare myself for it.

Hot Yoga class was much different. The teacher's style had a flow to it, and she took us through Sun Salutations, Warriors, and even inverted postures at a fast speed. Tom and Colleen agreed they thought the class was a little fast paced. Katie and I struggled a bit with the fast paced class as well, but I think it was Adrienne's dialogue through the postures kept me going. I think also because Katie and I are dancers we understood the flow of the postures and caught on faster. I did like that we did all sorts of postures that were different from the ones I am used to in Bikram because it is good to change it up!

The Dialogue

Bikram Yoga has a set "script" the instructors recite. I have been going to class so long I can even sometimes recite it in my head with them. Every so often the instructor may break free of their script and give the class a some little tidbits about life, stretching, or the benefits of the posture, but usually the dialogue in class stays basically the same.

Hot Yoga class conversation was more open. Adrienne explained postures, talked about chakras, said some funny jokes, remarked about the music that was playing, and more while we went through the asanas. It was more relaxed, which led my mind to wander a bit more than if I were just to be left to focus on silence and breathing. While the talking surely helped me stay in many of the hard postures without realizing it, it sometimes it made me chuckle and lose my concentration. I'm not saying that it is bad to have fun in Yoga class, but I just wasn't used to it.

The End of Class

Bikram Yoga Class end the way it begins - with a breathing exercise. After, you are instructed to lay down in Savasana (Corpse Pose) for at least 3 minutes to let all the Yoga you just did just kind of settle in your body. I usually struggle to relax myself after such a tough class, and am not sure if I have ever had enough discipline to remain in Savasana for more than the 3 minutes.

Hot Yoga Class ended with Savasana as well, but I found my body wanting to relax more after this class. I am not sure if it was the difference in heat or the postures we did, but I do believe I could have laid in Savasana after that class forever!

So here's the lowdown:
If you are looking for an intense yoga class where you can practice in heat, meditate inwardly with minimum help from the instructor, you'd be best taking a Bikram Yoga Class. However, if you are into practicing Hatha yoga postures that flow in a heated room filled with music and an instructor that interacts with the class, you should take a Hot Yoga class.

All in all, I think I enjoy both. It is nice to go regularly to Bikram Yoga class, and then to every so often go to a Hot Yoga class. If you want to go to a really great Hot Yoga Class, take Adrienne's class at the Fuller Movement Center! I know I will be back :)

Was it the Yin?

I came home from a GREAT Bikram Yoga class last night and took a shower immediately when I got home. As I sat down to check my email, I noticed that I was creating beads of sweat only from my shoulders and neck. In fact, the sweat was beading up so quickly that it began dripping down and eventually completely soaking the upper half of the shirt I was wearing.

"I must be cold," I thought, and threw a sweatshirt on. About an hour and a half later, though my body felt cool, I continued to sweat right through the sweatshirt! Why a person would sweat for 2 long hours only out of their shoulders and neck (which were giving off HEAT when I put my hand near)?

I am still not sure, but about 2 hours after I had started sweating, it all stopped. Like my body was finally done releasing something. The only thing I could think of was maybe the Yin Yoga class I took the night before had stirred something up inside me, so when I took the Bikram Yoga class my body felt like it needed to just sweat it out?

I have no idea! Has this ever happened to anyone else before? I am going to go to another Bikram class tonight. If anything else weird happens, I will keep you posted!

I Signed Up for a Year of Bikram Yoga!

After the Kripalu class I took on Monday, I really started thinking about Yoga and how good it feels. So last night I went to Bikram Yoga and signed up for a year! Sure, I signed up for the year before I took the class, and of course I regretted it just a bit after the second set of half moon pose. But by the end of the class, I felt like I had accomplished a lot, and was not as out of shape as I thought I was. Hopefully the year will be like a class - at first it will look like a long, hard time, but after it is over, you can't wait for the next one :)

One, funny thing about Bikram Yoga last night was that my friend Cate came along to take her first Hot Yoga class. Unfortunately, I suppose I wasn't as specific as I thought I was when I told her it was a "Hot" Yoga class. Later, I found out that she thought I meant "hot" like "sexy new and modern" yoga! What a mistake! Well, her first class was a bit harder than she had expected, and like all newbies to Bikram, she spent most of the class laying on her mat just trying to experience the room. But I am really proud of her for making it through :) She even said she'd be back to try class again!

I am leaving for Miami, Oklahoma on Saturday night with Soma Dance Company. We will be spending a week there at NEO Performing Arts School running dance workshops and teaching children Cunningham and Ailey Modern Dance. At the end of the week, the kids will be performing with us in 2 concerts. This is the second year we have been invited back, so we are all very excited!

Spring = New Plants, New Soap, New Yoga Kits!

Yesterday I went to the store and bought some tomato, pepper, okra, and basil seeds and planted them. I am pretty excited about growing them because I have never planted anything before. I have the perfect apartment to do it in too because my back porch is always in the sun. It will be great to have fresh vegetables and spices!

Speaking of things that are fresh, I recently have been on a pesticide and additive hating kick. After discovering that some of the bath products I have been using contained WAY too many chemicals for my liking, I discovered Castille soap. It comes in a bunch of different natural scents (I chose lavender) and it can basically be used to clean just about anything! I have been using it as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and face wash for the past 2 days, and I feel soooo clean! I also think it is cleaning my bathtub every time I shower as well because it leaves the room smelling so clean and wonderful when I am done showering.

And Spring is finally here! In a few weeks I will be starting a springtime fruit and vegetable fast. I did it last spring and it really got me in the mood for Spring cleaning :)

At YogaDirect, we've got these great new kits in. One is geared more for beginners and the other is for use with a Yoga Ball, but the best thing about these kits is they come with everything you need!

You can choose from either the Beginner Yoga Mat Kit with DVD




Or choose the Yoga On The Ball Kit with DVD

Taking a Deeper Breath

I have to admit, I really haven't been to a Yoga class in over two weeks, but I haven't stopped stretching, and at least getting one round of Sun Salutation in every day. I have been spending all my free time doing all of the fun outdoor activities you can do in the summer. This past week, for instance, I went hiking and canoeing. Who can turn that down?

I have, however, been keeping up with the breathing experiment i proposed in my last post. I was trying to see if Pranayama breathing and warming up my lungs before dancing would help me perform better during rehearsals. Yesterday was my first time, and I felt that if I tried to do the breathing while I was in the dance studio, the other dancers would be a little freaked out. Instead, I did a set of about 20 good deep breaths in my car on my way to rehearsal.

When I stepped out of my car, I did feel a bit more energized. However, as rehearsal went on, I didn't really notice if I had any sort of change in performance. What I did notice is how often I hold my breath when I dance! This is very bad!

So, tonight in rehearsal I am going to make an effort to pay attention to my breath and how I can use it while I dance. I always talk about breath being linked to movement, but most of the time, I completely forget. I read a while ago that most people are guilty of weak and shallow breathing, and that it's a good idea to try to re-teach yourself how to breathe to get the most out of everything you take in, as well as everything you release. For dance (and Yoga), breathing is very important. I will write a new post tomorrow after I have correctly breathed in rehearsal tonight!

Pranayama Breathing for Dancing?

Well, my ankle is feeling much better, and I have decided to take more care into warming it up before rehearsals and Yoga class so I don't injure it like that again.

Speaking of warming up, I have been thinking a lot about the Pranayama breathing that we do in Bikram Yoga class. The teacher always talks about how we use the breathing exercises at the beginning of the class to warm up the inside of our bodies, especially (and obviously) the lungs, and I wonder if I could hurt my lungs the way I hurt my ankle, because I don't warm up my lungs before dance rehearsal.

So I decided to read up a little more about Pranayama breathing and all the good things it can do for you. Other than relaxing your mind and keeping you focused during your practice, I learned that Pranayama breathing helps high blood pressure and relieves irritability. In Bikram class, the Pranayama breathing even quadruples lung capacity, helps control breathing problems like asthma, and even detoxifies the body. The elbow lifts done in Bikram during the first breathing exercise also help to lift and separate your rib cage, and dropping the head back to exhale opens the cervical vertebrae, relaxes the shoulders, stretches the nervous system, and even strengthens leg and abdominal muscles. That is doing a whole lot of good for your body - just by breathing in and out!

I also read about the different (wacky) types of Yogic breathing. Alternate Nostril Breathing is a special way of breathing in through one nostril, and breathing out through the other. It is supposed to be very calming, but requires you to alternately physically close off notrils with your finger. I tried this one, but didn't find it very soothing because I was congested in one nostril from allergies. Another way of breathing is a Cooling Breath, and involves breathing in through your nose, but then out of your mouth through a curled tongue. That's right, you curl your tongue and blow the air out that way. Since I am one of those people that can't curl her tongue, this breathing doesn't work for me either.

The Kapalbhati breathing that is done in Firm Pose at the end of Bikram class is a type of breathing that has always intrigued me. The fact that it is possible to only exhale, and allow the inhalations to occur unconsciously is a hard thing to comprehend. However, when it happens naturally, it is pretty amazing. I learned that Kapalbhati breathing not only helps strengthen your abdominal muscle wall, it also helps detoxify your body, normalises your bowels, and brings you mental clarity. I'll bet it helps with mental clarity because in order to do this breathing properly, you really have to not think about what you are doing at all, and just clear your mind. The second set, which is double the speed of the first set of breathing we do in class, is always the hardest for me because I think I go into panic mode too quickly from the short, quick spurts of breath.

In conclusion, after reading more about the different ways you can breathe, I suppose warming up my lungs before rehearsal would be a good idea, but probably isn't as necessary as warming up my ankles. However, I am going to try a few breathing exercises before I dive into my next few rehearsals and report back...just to see if I feel anything different.

I'll keep ya posted!

The Importance of Warming Up

As I mentioned earlier, I have problems with my ankles...

Well, I ended up missing Yoga class this week because I didn't warm myself up properly at our last dance rehearsal and messed up my right Achilles tendon. I think I had a partial rupture. It was weird because my ankle didn't hurt me the whole time I was dancing...but then as I was about to take a step out of the studio to leave, I felt a nasty sharp pain in my Achilles and it prevented me from walking for about a minute or so. There was no pop or snap, but there was definitely some intense pain, and I seriously saw my life flash before my eyes when it happened. I am an extremely active person, and not being able to walk is not something I would be able to deal with.

I know eventually after resting my ankle, it will feel better, but I really wish I had warmed myself up properly before rehearsal. Especially since it has been absolutely beautiful outside lately, and not being able to jog is really killing me. And I hate missing Yoga class as well.

Zen and Surfing

I went to Bikram Yoga again on Saturday morning. Since the class starts at 9am, I woke at 7am and ate breakfast then (you aren't supposed to eat anything right before class). The class was very refreshing, although I felt again like I was nauseous during Half Tortoise pose. If it happens again when I go to class this Thursday, I am going to ask the teacher what is up, because this has never happened before.

I went surfing for the first time yesterday. It was such a beautiful day, and my friends and I woke up early and drove to a beach in Rhode Island. When I was young, I got stung by a jellyfish while wading in the ocean water, and I really hadn't gotten back in the water since because the experience just turned me off. However, I have always wanted to surf, and learning to surf means getting back into the ocean. So I sucked it up and got over my fear. I screamed a lot when the waves came crashing on me, but after a while I found the waves to be so zen and calming. I didn't want to get out of the water!

After reaquainting myself with the ocean, I was excited to grab a surf board and try my luck with the waves. I tried two different boards - a short one without a foot leash, and a long thick one that was supposedly easier for beginners. Catching waves is pretty tricky. First you have to wait for the right one, and then when it arrives, you have to belly flop onto the board and start paddling toward the shore as much as you can, and eventually, if the wave lets you, you will be swept forward and taken for a ride. And during that ride, if you are travelling fast enough, you have to magically get your feet up on the board in one foul swoop. That was the hardest part, as I only managed to get my knees up on the board. However, I did get to ride a few waves and it was the best feeling. Surfing really is a zen sport, and makes you feel really connected to the ebb and flow of the ocean. I do wish I had worn a stronger SPF sunscreen, though, because my body is as red as a lobster right now from sunburn. I am going to try surfing again next weekend!

Half Tortoise Made Me Nauseous

After 3 nights of really strenuous rehearsals for Soma Dance Company (the modern dance company I perform with), I was really looking forward to stretching out my aching muscles at my regular Bikram Yoga class (I go to Bikram Yoga Farmington in Connecticut).

For the first half of class I found that I was just having one of those days that I couldn't balance at all! I tried relaxing myself & just breathing instead of thinking about how wobbly I was, but I pretty much fell out of every standing posture that required me to stand on one leg no matter what I tried. All except Balancing Stick pose, which is the one I usually fall out of. But I think the only reason I was able to "stick" that pose (pun intended) was because the teacher was standing right next to me at that point, saying "stretch equally in opposite directions - body down, leg up...BODY DOWN LEG UP!" So i did :) I heard from someone that if you have citrus fruits, it kind of throws of your balance, and I had been drinking a lot of orange juice. So maybe I can use that as an excuse for being wobbly.

During the 2 minute corpse pose I felt REALLY good, which is unusual. I usually lay uncomfortably in that posture because my mind tends to wander everywhere, but I think I was just so exhausted from rehearsals that I really allowed myself to just lay there and breathe. The next few back bending postures went really smoothly, although I started to feel a little nauseous. So I tried to breathe, but nothing was helping. Before Fixed Firm pose, I took a sip of water, which is something I normally do. During the first set of Tortoise Pose, I was feeling extra bendy, so I pushed myself a little farther than I usually do, and then I got a little nauseous again. So I continued breathing. I almost felt like I was going to throw up!

So today, looked up what others have had to say about feeling nauseous during class, but most people have said nausea may be a sign of heat exhaustion, or dehydration. However, I am not sure this is true in my case, as I am a regular in class, and I always drink plenty of water during the day. I looked to see what Half Tortoise Pose does to the body, hoping to find that it does something to your digestive system. I learned that Half Tortoise pose massages your heart, lungs, and coronary arteries, stretches your lower lungs, and cures indigestion, constipation, and flatulence. Bingo. I guess maybe that water I had sipped before Fixed Firm hadn't gone down to my belly all the way & Half Tortoise stirred it up a little bit. Ha! I don't know for sure, but I do know that it wasn't pleasant. I am definitely going to think twice before I take a sip of water during the second half of class again!

Warming up

Hi!
So I thought I'd start my first post by introducing myself. My name is Maendy and I work at YogaDirect.com, the best place to get really good Yoga props and equipment for very reasonable prices (and I'd say that even if I didn't work there! :)

I am also a Yoga FANATIC! I am an avid BikramYoga student, but I also love Vinyasa Yoga. I am dying to find a good local Ashtanga Yoga class that fits my schedule - anyone know of one? Finally, I am a modern dancer and Pilates student.

Let's see...what else can I tell ya....

My favorite style of Yoga (so far) is Bikram Yoga, because it is so challenging. I know that some people have dissed Bikram Yoga because of its static structure (the same postures are performed in the same order every class) and its teaching style (teachers recite a "script" and tell students to lock their knees and stretch beyond your flexibility throughout class), but I feel that because every class is the same, it allows me to learn something new about my body every time I am in class. The intense heat of the room is especially challenging. I feel a real sense of accomplishment after I have stretched my body in all sorts of ways in a hot as hell room full of sweaty, smelly people for 90 minutes. Makes me feel like I can do anything!

I am also such a big fan of Bikram because I have a lot of built up scar tissue in my left ankle from dancing on pointe shoes too early as a child. Because of this, my ankle was always very stiff and it has prevented me from doing a certain postures in Yoga classes. However, after attending Brikram Yoga class regularly, I have slowly worked through that scar tissue (it took a little over a year, but the heat really helped), and now I have greatly increased the range of motion in that ankle. Now, I am pretty much addicted to Bikram!

Well, that's all for now - Namaste!