I recently read an article, which used information from a new scientific study to claim that no health benefits come from sweating. I would have to believe that the author of such an article has never taken a Bikram Yoga class.

I think back to seven years ago and remember feeling like yoga was not the sport for me.  My idea of real exercise was running a marathon, taking a spinning class, or pumping some iron. I could not envision feeling gratified with a workout that took place on a yoga mat and ended with a feel-good group chant. That was not exercise to me, and I was fairly certain that Christy Turlington was secretly doing a lot more than stretching and handstands to keep her flawless physique.

I seemed to be on a constant search for that right combination of exercise and diet for toned legs, a slim waistline and sculpted arms and back. So, when a close friend in enviable physical shape swore by Bikram Yoga, I felt I needed to try it for myself. 

3.19.TW

I blindly went to my first Bikram class without doing my research. I had eaten a greasy cheese burger the night before and had only imbibed coffee the day I went to class. Since I was in pretty good shape, I figured the warning by the teacher to ‘sip water’ as needed and to kneel on my mat if I felt ‘dizzy or sick’ was just the spiel they gave to all the newbies for, you know, liability purposes. 

As soon as I entered the yoga room, I knew that this Bikram class was not what I expected. The room was hot. Really hot. It was also crowded; the person next to me was no more than a foot and a half away. The lights were bright and all I saw in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors which covered the walls were the zit on my chin and my need to make an appointment to have my roots colored. This was going to be a long ninety minutes. 

 

The class began with a ‘warm-up’ that left me out of breath and exhausted. I was dying for the designated ‘sip of water break’ which signified the end of the warm-up and beginning of the ‘real yoga’. After several balancing postures and a pool of sweat surrounding my feet, the teacher declared we were moving to the floor for the remainder of the class, which, by the way, seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace. I was dizzy and nauseous, just as I had been warned.

I kind of went through the motions of the floor series. It was a struggle to even turn over onto my back for a twenty-second rest between postures. My hair was soaked and I constantly had to wipe the sweat out of eyes to see. I was regretting eating that cheeseburger the night before my first Bikram class, and finally understood the sentiment ‘sweat it out’. When I looked in the mirror, I no longer saw that zit. It was still there, but my priorities had changed. I just wanted to complete the class without dying. 

Class ended with a breathing exercise, which seemed really unnatural. The lights went out, we were instructed to take care of ourselves, drink plenty of water, and come back as soon as possible. I could not wait to breathe in fresh air.  I laid on my mat for a minute and then rolled it up and headed to my car. 

That night, I couldn’t drink enough water. I craved a piece of fish and broccoli, and I slept like a baby. Perhaps it was that I was physically exhausted from the shock of doing yoga in a room heated to over 100 degrees. Perhaps it was the teacher’s calming words ‘all you need is the space on your mat’, which he repeated as it became obvious that the crowded class coupled with the oppressive heat were beginning to get to all of us. As I laid in my bed that night I heard those words again and again in my head. It was a metaphor for my life at that time. I was stressed with work, overwhelmed with family issues, and unhappy in my current relationship. It was a period of endless nights of insomnia followed by days of juggling acts trying to keep it all together.

What I found in that Bikram Yoga yoga class was not what I had gone in searching for. Sure, my limbs seem longer and my back is more toned after seven years of dedicated Bikram practice. I stand up a little straighter and my shoulders are more relaxed than they were before. However, the real benefits of this yoga, for me, have been mental. As someone who has the propensity for stress and worry, I can confidently say that I am calmer now. There is no room for my thoughts when I’m in hot yoga. What seems like a big deal suddenly gains perspective when I can’t focus on anything other than breathing to make it through a challenging class. 

I still run and lift weights. But there is nothing like that good sweat from an hour and half Bikram class. The sweat has me wanting to eat cleaner and drink more water and less diet coke. I am breathing deeper and sleeping better. I am less focused on the occasional zit and don’t obsess about things I cannot control. I am humbled by a practice that I will never find easy. I would challenge that author who believes sweat has no health benefits to try thirty days of Bikram Yoga. I’d be willing to bet he’d change his tune and change his body! 

 

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