This morning I went to Bikram Yoga. This is 90 minutes of Yoga in a 100+ degree, humid room. This is an official Bikram studio, and the instructors are a little like Nazi Robot Auctioneers. The prattle off exactly what you are to be doing, every second if you were performing each posture to perfection. You are to listen to your own body, challenge yourself to do more, but also pace yourself so you don’t pass out. This is not always an easy task -- finding this balance.
Yesterday I took the day off from Yoga after a stretch of 5 days in a row. I figured the day off would allow me to be stronger today, capable to complete all of the postures in a strong way. That was my intention going into class. Yoga has taught me, physically, at the cellular level, that setting my intention is key to success. So, before class began, I lay in Savasana and thought about how I wanted this upcoming class to be the strongest class I’ve ever completed. I would fulfill all of the postures with strength and put my best effort toward them. I would be rewarded by observing my body going a little deeper into the correct postures.
Well, about 15 minutes into class, I realized my plan wasn’t coming true. I felt dizzy and nauseous. This feeling is common with new students to Bikram, but I hadn’t felt it in several weeks. However, I did eat some oatmeal less than 1 hour before class, and I was sure that was the problem. I forgot to be careful about the rule to not eat 2 hours before class. I began to mentally beat myself up for not following this precaution. I had gotten lazy, or arrogant thinking the rule no longer applied to me now that I was feeling mostly good in class. Yoga is teaching me humility.
So, plans don’t always go as planned... here I am in class now, with over an hour still to go, and I have a decision to make. I can leave the classroom, or I can stay and rest more than I really need to, focusing on my sick feelings, or I can try to put the nausea aside as much as possible, stay 100% in the moment, listening carefully to my body, rest when I truly need to and push myself when I can. Basically, Yoga is teaching me to be present in the moment, put forward my best effort, while also listening to my body so that I can finish the class as strong as when I started.
Yoga is teaching me endurance is really just completing one posture at a time until the end. We do each posture 2 times. I ended up resting 1 set of a couple of the postures, laying in Savasana instead of attempting the posture. During this time, I both relaxed fully to let my body rest and my heart rate come down, and I also mentally geared up to complete the next set. I thought of my good friend who just completed her 6th or 7th Ironman race who was vomiting the last section of the marathon run. She was saying to herself then - I just need to finish. “It isn’t that hard to simply finish. You just don’t stop". Yoga is teaching me this too. One foot in front of the other, one more posture, one more class. It feels so good when I am done that I can’t wait to go back.
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