Bend it like Bikram

Camel pose photo by Leo Castillo

I've got three days of Hot Yoga (Bikram) under my belt and it's almost like I never stopped practicing. Sort of...

My first class (on Saturday) I did forget a few poses and I forgot what my body was capable of doing within those poses. But by the time I did Sunday's class and this morning's, I was in the flow and I was at where I left off 9 months ago.

I noticed the practice seemed lighter and a bit less constricted than previous experiences. Then it dawned on my that I'm practicing in a new and lighter body. Duh, that makes all the difference in the world.

I can't wait to see where the practice takes me. I have a feeling that I will be doing this for awhile. I love the practice so much, I'm very happy it's back in my life.

I thought on my yoga days (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday), I would talk about well...yoga. Each session I'll discuss a different poses, it's benefits and my experience with it.

On Monday, Wednesday and Friday I continue to 'learn how to run' and weight training, although, I'm changing up the weight training a bit, but I'll discuss that tomorrow.

I also want to talk about the garden. We bought seeds and plants last weekend and I planted some wheatgrass. No more spending $2.50 for a shot. I'm drinking my own brew, yeah! More on the garden, later.

With the poses, I'm going to start at the beginning of the series until I cover all 26 poses, including two breathing exercises and then I'll choose a random pose in the series and discuss why I'm feeling that Pose for the Day.

Pose of the Day
1. Pranayama ( prāṇāyāma)"Standing deep breathing"

Benefits
Good for lungs and respiratory system
Helps with mental relaxation
Helps high blood pressure
Relieves irritability
Good for detoxification
Exercises nervous, respiratory and circulatory systems

photo and info by Quick Fit Yoga

Terilynn's thoughts:

This is a great breathing exercise to kick start the practice it creates heat in the belly (just in case the 95-100 degrees room wasn't enough).

You breathe in through your nose and let the breath hit the back of your throat until your inner Darth Vader invades. And the louder the better, you should hear the 'Darth Vader' sound in your throat as you inhale. It's pretty cool.

When you exhale the breath, you open your mouth and let the breath escape. I think it's called the "breath of fire." I have a image of me being Puff the Magic Dragon and spewing out fire. It's fun.

You do two sets of 10 breaths during a 90 minute class.