I had a couple of friends who started taking Bikram when the studio first opened in Dallas. I listened to their harrowing descriptions of stretching and balancing in overwhelming heat and let's just say it did not strike me as a particularly appealing way to spend an hour and a half! It wasn't until a couple of years later that one friend in particular convinced me that despite the heat the class was well worth taking. Though I had exercised enthusiastically when I was younger, enjoying running and swimming, family obligations with two young children (plus a full time job) had become my excuse to do for everyone else but myself. When I decided to try Bikram three years ago, I hadn't exercised regularly for about five years. I was the tortoise that first year, taking it slowly, coming once or twice a week, but keeping in the race. Yoga became my way to take time for myself.
After the first year, I began to add more classes to my routine, and these days you can find me in class 3-4 times a week. I have achieved tangible benefits as a result--losing twenty pounds since I began, making healthier food choices. But most astounding to me is the words I've heard in yoga translated to my work and family life. "When you fall out, get back in" reminds me when I fail at something, the only thing to do is get back up and try again. And "working from the inside out" reminds me when I want to make changes in my life, I must start from inside. I can literally think of dozens of examples where words said inside class have a double meaning, and sometimes more powerful meaning, when applied to the rest of my life.
Take the eagle pose, for example. It took me three years to wrap my foot around my leg in eagle pose. Now it would prove difficult to explain to someone outside the yoga class the significance of wrapping ones foot around ones leg; it could, in fact, be seen as a pretty small feat in the scheme of things. But someone experienced in Bikram would know the importance is not just a foot around a leg (pretty astonishing in and of itself), but the implications of achieving a goal one never thought possible. That for me is the ultimate beauty of this yoga, and what continues to enrich my life on a daily basis.
