And no, I don’t mean my inner cartoon bear, although I’m sure we all have a little of him in us, too. :o)

This past week I began my practice of Bikram Yoga. Bikram is a form of yoga that takes variations on traditional Hatha postures with a focus on extension and compression to work together to deliver fresh oxygen to every joint, muscle, and organ within the human body. You do these 26 postures in a room heated to 105 degrees for 90 minutes. There is the whole mind-body-spirit connection associated with it as well, but being a newbie I’m still learning, so more on that later. I’m taking classes through Pure Bikram Yoga and I have to say that their staff is wonderful! They are so encouraging and helpful. This is one of the most welcoming (and clean!) facilities at which I’ve ever been.

Bikram Yoga is hard. It’s probably the most physically challenging thing I’ve ever taken on, and, for reasons unknown to me, I freaking love it! I’ve never had so much natural energy in my life, I’m practically bouncing off the walls. I’m also sleeping better that ever. Yes I’m sore and exhausted after every class. I’m also so soaked in sweat that I could be wrung out. I can’t do any of the postures correctly and some I can’t do at all. I still get dizzy and feel like I’m about to vomit occasionally through the class. And despite all of this, I still keep coming back happily. I’ve taken 3 classes in the past 5 days and have already noticed a difference in my body, too. I really hope these great changes continue ‘cause I’m loving it. :o)

So my goal is to do 15 classes in the next 30 days and I’m 1/5 of the way to my goal already! I’ll be posting somewhat regular updates here as my live yoga journal. Probably boring to most, but I’m so excited to find a workout I actually enjoy that I’m shouting it to the rooftops! 

Namaste