It's Not A Workout. It's Healing.
Every time I tell someone about my Bikram 101-day Challenge, they often ask the same question...
"Why are you doing this?"
I think most people expect me to answer with one of the following:
- To tone up.
- To lose weight.
- To prove I can do it.
But the real reason isn't any of these. These are all added benefits of practicing Bikram yoga anytime. Not just with a challenge.
I am doing this challenge, and try to practice regularly, for my health.
I'm not in bad health. In fact, when I had my Canadian immigration physical a little over a year ago, the doctor in Boston commented on how healthy I appeared. Cholesterol... Blood work... Blood pressure... No heart problems... No medication taken regularly... No chronic back problems... And I attribute that to Bikram!
The 101-day challenge is all about continuing on my path to clean up my body. The physical parts... The emotional parts... And the mental parts...
I've had a few classes in the past week where I find myself breaking down and BAWLING during class. There's no reason why. I just have an emotional release for a few seconds. And because it is so FREAKING JUICY at the studio I practice in, I can disguise my tears as sweat.
In the first 30 days of my challenge, my body broke down a lot. Acid reflux... Muscles caving... Dizzy spells.... Now though, I seem to be past most of that. A little acid reflux still, but it's showing up later than it used to, if at all.
Now that I am in the second set of 30 days... My emotions are eff-ing with me. Guess they are the next things to heal.
Comments
How can anybody want to have Cholesterol problems, blood pressure, take medications, pain both here and there and so on. I see this people every day and they don't want to take care of the problem, they want to be a victim to something instead of taking responsibility for their own lives.
The first thing about yoga that sucked me in was the feeling that I was "working out" but also healing myself, all at the same time. I was getting great physical benefits (losing weight, toning, lowering all levels) but also such emotional healing as well. No other form of exercise had ever done that for me before. And therein lies my addiction to yoga. :)