Hi everyone,
I’ve done yoga for about a year now and still have very, very inflexible hamstrings. Now that it is winter time, I feel like I am not benefitting as much from my yoga classes because it takes my body so long to get warmed up enough to the point where I feel like I am stretching. In relatively easy classes, sometimes the whole class goes by and I still don’t feel “warmed up.” I went to a studio across town that offered heated yoga classes, where they brought in space heaters to heat the room to about 90 degrees. It was just perfect. I felt that my body got a lot more out of the practice due to the external heat. Thinking that I may enjoy and benefit from heated yoga, I signed up for a 2 week trial a bikram studio that is only 15 minutes away. Wow-- so different from the class with the space heaters!!! I found the heat and humidity nearly unbearable. At the first class, I just tried to focus on my breath and hardly did any of the asanas. I came to the conclusion that I really hate bikram classes, but I am considering trying again because the only nearby studio with heated classes is a bikram studio-- and I do feel that heat helps my stubborn muscles relax enough to get a good stretch. Would you all recommend giving Bikram another shot? How long does it generally take to acclimate enough to get to the point where I will be able to get past the heat and actually do most of the practice?
Penelope -
I’m a really cold person, so I know how you feel. Sometimes when I am traveling somewhere cold, I will just go to the bikram class to get nice and warm. That’s an option, but I’ve also learned a on how to be able to get up in the morning and do my own practice when I’m visiting home along Lake Superior’s beautiful snow-stormed lakeshore, so maybe this will help you.
- Sleeping with an electric blanket. I’m not sore or stiff at all when I wake up, or very little. It’s tremendous. I travel most of the year, and take it with me when I know I will stay anywhere chilly.
- Making fresh ginger tea or chai tea with ginger before doing my practice. I’ve found it CONSIDERABLY warms up my body from the inside out. Coffee and other teas work ok, but ginger really has that radiating effect.
- Taking a hot shower with a shower cap before doing yoga - (But I do yoga at home, so it’s a bit more flexible).
- Wearing long pants and long sleeved shirts when doing yoga. Actually… all the time… but it really helps. When I was studying in India, our classroom always had the a/c on full blast, and so in the middle of a 100 degree summer, I was shivering and stiff. I started wearing a t-shirt under a long-sleeve thermal black shirt, thinking I would just take it off when we did asana, but I realized that staying warm all the time really lowered my stiffness. Now if I’m remotely cold, I do yoga in at least warm capris and a warm 3/4 length cotton sweater. No more tank tops, shorts… being cold is uncomfortable, it inhibits my flexibility and puts me as more risk for hurting myself because I’m so stiff. I also usually wear a cotton bandana turned into a headband to keep my head and ears warm. If I get hot during practice, I always have stuff on that I can take off, but it’s being just a bit too snug and warm before I start that really makes the difference.
- Drink lots of water, it will keep you warm in the cold and cool in the warm.
- Go into the class 20 minutes early and start by doing some sun salutations or just warming up all of the joints of your body with simple movements or rotations.
- Fill your water bottle with warm water, maybe with some lemon. A lot of people don’t like it, but in a Bikram class your water would be warm in 5 minutes there anyway, so its not much of a difference.
That’s all for now. If I think of any other ways in which I’m managed to get past the pre-arthritic conditions of excessive vata in the cold, desolate north, I will let you know. 
Hello Penelope,
What I love about your post is that you don’t make the common mistake of confusing environment with Yoga. I profusely thank you. Yoga obviously can take place in any climate at all. However, you feel you need the heat in order to experience a warmth and subsequently a stretch - based on what you’ve shared.
Of course when one end of something moves away from its other end, stretching is occurring. Stated anatomically, when a muscle’s origin is fixed and its insertion is moved away, OR when a muscle’s insertion is fixed and its origin is moved away, the muscle itself, by definition, is stretching. Whether the student is able to feel that depends on other factors, the least of which is their ability to feel at all (awareness, sensitivity, consciousness).
Generally speaking I prefer students (and I) develop an ability and efficiency in generating heat at the cellular, systemic and organic levels then radiate that heat toward the epidermis. I have some concern with an asana practice when it is not labeled as such AND doesn’t contain the requisite other elements which define Yoga. Further, the reliance on an artificial heat source (not the Sun) combined with asana that is not and cannot be modified to fit the person (but rather requires the person to fit it) raises some cardio-vascular safety questions.
Last, but certainly not least, the human body has a built-in protection system to prevent damage and that system has several names but for this post I’ll call it “range of motion”. This is an intentional door stopper to keep certain things from moving to far away from and too close to other things. When the body is externally heated there tends to be a landscape of Fool’s Gold and I’ve not witnessed many who are able or willing to resist the temptation to “go for it”, which is coincidentally encouraged in the practice you mention, through the very script used in teacher trainings.
For me it would not be a safe haven to explore, discover and live my purpose (svadharma). However, if it is such a place for you then certainly consider going back. When you, as an individual, might acclimate is anyone’s guess.
gordon
Hi Penolope,
If you go with your instincts, you will find you made the right choice.
[QUOTE=Penelope;69122]…I found the heat and humidity nearly unbearable. At the first class, I just tried to focus on my breath and hardly did any of the asanas. I came to the conclusion that I really hate bikram classes…[/QUOTE]
Hot yoga is very popular and enticing but, as Innerathlete described, can lure you into a false sense of ability. Aside from that, there are many other issues related to hot yoga, including cardio-vascular and respiratory stress.
My studio is heated between 85 and 90 degrees, depending on the yoga practice. During our Ashtanga series, the instructor will begin the class in a warm room and reduce the heat gradually to around 80 as the students begin to generate their own internal heat.
I take it from your post that the nearest ‘warm’ studio is a long way off, and that the bikram studio is convenient? If there is another choice, I agree with suryadaya that warmer clothing and an earlier start would help a lot.
I have been doing Bikram with some regularity for 8 months now ( and off and on before that ). Since I am inflexible, with some injuries and am past 50 I have taken it very slow in extending in the postures. Since I live in a very cold climate and often am cold I have found the heat soothing. The heat in the room felt overpowering for the first five classes or so. Now I have 1 class in 10 when I do not even consider it very hot, 1 in 10 when the heat really gets to me and 8 in 10 when I feel the heat but it doesn’t overpower me. Don’t ask too much of yourself at the beginning.
I definately think you should go back and try again. After about 10 classes you will know if this is something for you or not. That answer is difficult to arrive at after just one class. If you also keep doing other asana practices you will soon see what effects you get from various practices.
Best of luck in finding your way.
if you get to hot in a bikram class first thing is go to childs pose then second go back to the basics
breathing breathing breath control is the most important part of any yoga class or style when you can keep your breath under control everything is much easier
if you sat in a bikram class and did nothing but breath for the entire class on the floor you would get just as good of a result as doing the class. But only if you really focus on the breath
Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful responses! After giving this more thought, I think I will stick to my regular studio (I’m guessing they just don’t heat very much to keep costs down), and try some of your suggestions to warm up. The bottom line is that I simply can’t envision myself enjoying Bikram classes. what I have come to love about yoga is that I look forward to going to class, whereas with most forms of exercize I see it as simply something to get through. I fear that going to a bikram studio would eventually lead me to dread yoga class rather than look forward to it, even after acclimating to the heat.