Bend it like Bikram

"My god it's hot in here"..... I look around to see if anyone else felt the way I did.

"Shh!" an evil look from a slim, scantily dressed 40ish woman comes my way while she, with straight legs straddling her yoga mat bends over and lays out her towel. "This is quiet and resting time". Rest time. Who rests in 40-degree heat? If I rest, I am scared I will not wake up.

"Sorry. But it's damn hot in here. I mean, Aren't you hot?"

Don't worry about answering that I already know the answer. You're sweating and the class 

hasn't started!  Who are these people?

Ok. I am trying to be one of these people. It started for me after I read "sweat, get flexible, lose weight". I would have been happy with the last two but the first makes it seem realistic. Sweat = weight loss (well that's what my female glossy magazines tell me, and they are never wrong!). So, I got sucked in and off I went to my first beginners pass of Bikram Yoga.

This is like a love/hate exercise class or that is how I initially felt about Bikram. Ok, that's how I felt about those in the class. They were a mixture of ballerinas, circus acrobats and gymnasts. These people make normal (me) people feel bad and their ages ranged from 17 to 70. These people should never be in a class together that people like me can join.

I'm 34, like my red wine, tv snacks when watching a movie and enjoy take-away meals a little too often. Don't get me wrong, I exercise, and I stop drinking for a month every year. Usually, February because it is only 28 days in the month but the people in this class make the average Joe feel like Homer Simpson.

These people exercise in their sleep, and they probably sleep in the splits position!

Ok. Maybe I am exaggerating. The point is they are fit. Me, I hope I become them during my 4-week challenge.

On my first class I found the room enough. I decided I am not bothering with the poses. Standing straight is enough. Actually, too much. Then I found my favourite position. Namaste (sounds like Mother's Day - which I thought it was initially and said!). I decide to stay in this position until the tough, and hot, one and a half hours were over.

The next day I convinced myself to return. That was the only goal for day two. Come back! Tick. Namaste. Tick. Home time. Finally.

By my third class I promised myself that I will try some poses - ok - I agreed not to go into Namaste straight away. The class starts "bend, hold, bend hold, deeper, further, deeper, hold. Release".  That was the first pose. It was a breathing pose. My gosh this is tough.  

As the days continued, I found the challenge became addictive.

I found my balance and desire to push my leg up behind my head to find my toes in the mirror as a goal worth striving for. I felt myself thinking about poses while on the train, in the shower and during boring business meetings.  Imagining my future flexibility - irrelevant to everyday life but man wouldn't it be cool to feel confident enough to stand in the third row in the class rather than tucked in the back corner with others newbie Brikramers sweating all over my towel.

I found as the weeks went by, I started to sweat more and saw weight loss and was super hungry. I also found my pee after classes was yellow like apple juice! I put it down to a sign my body was cleansing. Or possibly dehydrated! Positive thoughts - I was cleansing just like the brochure said would happen.

Who would have imagined such good came from holding poses in a room over 40 degrees for 1.5 hours. But it did. A month later I signed up for a three month pass. A new me was emerging and I felt great!

What also helped me keep focused was the fun watching newbies enter the class. I understood their pain and frustration. 'I know, who squats with a knee bent over their thigh with hands in prayer position, and their butt nearly touching the floor?... you will my Bikram friend, you will!'