Birkram Yoga

Since coming home from Africa 10 months ago, I have found that I have had a hard time becoming inspired by things.

Once you have climbed Africa’s highest peak, cycled through the most remote part of the Sudan, followed the Nile south to its source and jumped over Victoria Falls great gorge, going out for a latte or catching a flick just doesn’t turn one on like it used to.

I have found myself, not in a depression, but simply numb to life.  I have been going through the motions.  Yes, we took up Cross Country skiing, did some snowshoeing and a lot of snowboarding this winter, but for some reason I didn’t have any excitement about it.  I would wake up feeling bored.  Good friends and company couldn’t  wake me from the fog, even weekend getaways to luxury resorts or quaint chalets couldn’t rouse my interest.  It is not a great way to live life and I really want to find that excitement again about the little things. Life is short, and we should be happy, intrigued and respectful of everything that we encounter every day!

I think back to the first time Dave and I started cycling on the Trans Canada Trail and climbing the Niagara Escarpment or the times that we went diving in Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay.  We were close to home, but I woke up each of those mornings pumped to explore another part of the Province, or to log more hours in my diving log.  However, it seems that the more I do lately, the more I feel like I am just checking off a list.  Doing sports or activities for the simple fact that I am supposed to or because it is expected of Dave and I.  I haven’t gotten up on those snowboarding days and thought “Awesome, I am going to hit the hills,” instead I say “here we go again.” Blah Blah Blah

Is this why adrenaline junkies keep going until they finally kill themselves pushing their limits to the extreme?  I am not an adrenaline junkie by any means, but I think that I have become an Adventure Junkie.  I keep having to do something bigger and better with each trip or task.  I really don’t want to let things spiral out of control believe me, I want to be comfortable in my own home, relaxing and learning how to “BE”

And then I found Bikram Yoga 3 weeks ago.  It has been my dream for a while to go to India and study yoga.  I have always wanted to learn from a genuine guru in an authentic Ashram.  However, since I am not in the position to do that quite yet,(and as I am trying to learn to enjoy my time at home in Toronto) I discovered a wonderful studio just down the road from us. I signed up for a 2 week trial and found myself going almost every day.  I felt like I had missed something with my day if I didn’t go, and it made me feel so good that I started craving it.  Surprising for me because contrary to appearances, I am lazy at heart and it always takes a great deal of will power for me to go and work out.  Amazing at it seems to me, I actually look forward to going to class and progressing in my practice.  I have signed up for another month unlimited and I am pumped to see my progress.  My body is starting to twist in directions I never thought possible.

Bikram Yoga is Hot Yoga.  Set in a studio with temperatures of 105°,  however I have looked at the thermostat in my studio and it is always hovering at 110°, That is hot for any activity, let alone balancing and holding poses.  It is a surprising cardio workout.

Heat has always been a problem for me.  In Africa, I sweat to the point of having serious side effects from washing away my nutrients and having hyperthyroid and graves disease in the past, I have shied away from working out in extreme temperatures.  But in Bikram, I feel that I am overcoming my problem.  I am almost making it through classes without having to lay down to catch my breath and I have even gotten through a couple of sessions without feeling the need to run screaming from the scorching room.  I think that I just may be fixing my broken internal thermostat.

Even though I am in remission from Hyperthyroid, I have never felt like I have gotten over the profuse sweating that started when I was at my height of my illness.   All is well now, but I have been experiencing Menopausal hot flashes since my late 20′s.  Entering my late 30′s some may argue that I am now finally experiencing the real Menopause, but I beg to differ.  I think that by forcing myself to go to these 90 min classes at 108°, I can fight the beast and eventually learn to love the heat.  It is with baby steps, but I really think that it is working.  Yep, I am sweating beyond everyone else and it is completely disgusting, but I am seeing improvements each class.

I will never lose my Adventure Junkie personality, and I will always have that need to explore, but it is great to know that there is something here at home that will keep me in shape, challenge me and because Bikram is about completing the same 26 poses each class, lets me see my improvement.  I was a sucker for Miss Pac Man as a kid and that is because it involved becoming better and faster at the same pattern each time I played, I would always learn something new and make it a little farther getting a higher score each time.

That is how I feel at Bikram.  Each class I get a little better, hold a pose a little longer, bend a little deeper and feel a little better. I see progress and that keeps me coming back.