While yoga and running are on opposite ends of the exercise spectrum, I have heard that they compliment each other and can help prevent injury. Since I love a challenge when I see one and am always open to trying new things, I decided to try yoga, more specifically Bikram Yoga: a 90-min hot yoga class consisting of 26 postures practiced in a room heated to 105°F with a humidity of 40%.
Bikram Yoga Columbia offers an introductory unlimited 10-day class pass to first-timers. Upon signing up, the lady told me that the goal of my first class is to just stay in the room for the whole duration of class. Sounds simple enough, but I knew it wasn't going to be...
I stepped into the room and thought it was cooler than I expected it to be (perhaps all those 100°+ summer days helped). I saw everyone else in the room lie down on top of their mats, so I did the same thing. I was almost enjoying the warmth (like lying in the hot sand under the warm sun at the beach) when the instructor came in and we got started. When I stood up for the breathing exercise, I immediately felt dizzy, but just thought that happens all the time when I get up too fast because of my lower than average blood pressure.
I immediately got into the groove of class and was doing the different poses. But like a noob, I exerted way too much effort early on and started to feel nauseous around pose 3. I felt so sick that I wanted to run out of the room and gasp some fresh cool air, but remembered the instructor telling me that my only goal was to stay in the room the whole time! I didn't want to fail my first class! But the more and more I tried to stay in the poses, the dizzier and dizzier I got until I finally had to sit down and sip water. Each time I got up again, I felt a little better, did a pose or two and then sat down again. The instructor occasionally turned on the ceiling fans and opened the doors to get some moving air in and that was the most welcoming breath of fresh air I've ever had! I was so thankful when we got to the lying down and sitting poses, as they didn't make me feel nearly as dizzy. At the end of class, the instructor had everyone give me a round of applause for surviving my first Bikram Yoga class.
Out of all the sports/exercise classes/recreational activities I've ever tried, Bikram Yoga was probably one of the hardest. It was the longest 90-minute workout of my life and I felt worse during it than in my early days of running where I could barely finish a mile. Also, I have never dropped as much sweat in any other activity (not even a 20 mile run in 100° weather) as I did in this. Given that the class was at 6:15 AM, I probably wasn't as hydrated as I needed to be, attributing to the dizziness. I will definitely try to return again within the next 10 days to get my money's worth for the introductory offer, but am not sure this is something I'd do on a regular basis. I'm sure if I stick to it, my body would acclimate and I would get better at it, but it is rather expensive and torturous!
The 26 Poses of Bikram Yoga (my favorite was #13 =P):
*UPDATE*
I went in for a second class and things went much smoother than the first one. I took an afternoon session this time and drank plenty of water beforehand. I didn't get dizzy and was able to manage all of the poses without sitting any out.
