It is almost embarrassing that today was my first Bikram experience. As a yoga teacher who teaches hot yoga, it is something in which I should be well versed. Sure, I knew the Bikram sequence and the basics about classes, but knowing and experiencing are not the same. So, today, needing something a little different, I went to the Bikram studio a mere four miles or so up the road. I bought the $20 unlimited weekly intro, but I am not sure if I am going to go back, even though as with any kind of yoga, one class is not enough to get the full impact.
Bikram Pros:
1. Sweaty!
2. Nice arm workout, even without arm balances and downward dog.
3. Generally, a blanced practice for the body.
4. Getting yelled at is sort of an incentive not to cheat.
5. Yes, all of the benefits of doing the same practice every time.
6. Postures are done twice, so there is more room for exploration in a single class.
Bikram Cons:
1. The smell. Oh, the smell. I thought Bikram studios had a reputation for being fastidiously maintained precisely because of the copious sweating and secreting people do during practice. Maybe this one is an exception, but the lobby and bathrooms smelled like a kennel, and the studio itself was just plain rank. For crying out loud, I teach hot yoga and worked at a studio, so I know how it gets sometimes, but this was nasty.
2. Bright lighting and mirrors. It really sucks in sivasana. And I don’t need to see my fat rolls under flourescent lights.
3. Speaking of sivasana, the mini sivasanas between the seated poses are annoying. I get why they’re in the sequence, but I didn’t like it.
4. The rigidity of the practice. I know my body better than the teacher does, and sometimes I just need to modify, dammit. It’s only in two postures, but I would much rather make a minor modification than just stand or sit there.
5. I don’t find being singled out at all motivating.
6. Really, the smell. I have showered, eaten, and been outside since class, and I can still smell it.
I came out of the practice feeling more drained than energized. I am not sure if it is the practice, or that this is the time of year when a hot practice starts to feel lousy, but it is the first time I can remember that a yoga practice left me completely drained for the rest of the day. (I nodded off in the parking lot at Whole Foods. If there hadn’t been some one giving out samples of fruit juice in the produce department, I might not have made it through my shopping trip.)
Still, I want to give it another try. The lights, the militaristic approach – I can deal with all of that. I just don’t know if can put up with the smell for another two hours. I think my issue is more with the studio than the practice. I am also aggravated by the fact that because they use the same scheduling software that CCY uses, I can tell from their website that they clearly don’t understand how to properly update the teacher listings on the public schedule. That may annoy me more than the smell.
