Day 6

Last night, after the super heated yoga class I finally decided to use the Epsom salts recommended by one of the teachers to help relieve aches and muscle pains I've been having. I filled the bath with warm water and put in about 1 cup of this remedy and just lied there for about half an hour. Seems like it really helped with muscular pain, but the thing that surprised me more was how soft my skin was afterwards. Quick google search on magnesium sulfate and it turns out this little remedy can be used for many other things. It's a treatment for eclampsia in pregnant women, in baths for pain relief, eczma treatment, smoothing out wrinkles ( not that I have any....ahm, ahm), hair volumising, softening dry skin to name just a few. Both magnesium and sulfate play important role in a body. Magnesium helps regulate the body's enzyme activity and sulfate hepls create joint proteins and strengthens the walls of digestive tract. By taking Epsom salt baths both of these can be absorbed through skin, so great for restoring the levels especially for those suffering from deficiency.

This morning I decided to go for a 10am class. Upon arrival checked with guys at reception - heather problem solved - I proceeded in. Got a spot on the mat at the back of the room as I have decided to move around every session to bring a bit of a change into my practice (and maybe even find out where the super hot spots are so I can avoid those in the future...) When the teacher came in it surprised me when I recognised her. She thought me my first ever bikram yoga class back in 2007 at a different studio close to my then office and I had no idea that she now worked in this one too. Having seen her, I was looking forward to the class as she was one of my favourite teachers back then and I'd always leave her classes having improved at least one of my postures. This happened today, during the triangle pose (a master posture, that I've been having a love-hate relationship ever since 2008 - deserves a separate post of its own one of these days). She came and adjusted my alignment of the extended leg by turning my hip/knee towards the floor slightly. This in turn helped my balance, and helped me sink my hips even deeper to the ground. Triangle - finally getting there...

Day 5

Started noticing definite change in my sleeping patterns. I fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow and unlike a couple of weeks ago I do not wake up in the night anymore, don't spend ages shuffling around bed and go into a really, really deep sleep. This is good. I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and energised. So much so, that in the first couple of hours of day I sorted out a lot of stuff around the house that I've been meaning to do for ages but been putting it off. I wouldn't be far off by saying I went slightly 'hyper'. In this frame of mind I arrived to studio for my afternoon class and ... hit the wall. My body was tired, and this wasn't helped by the fact that the studio had some problems with the heaters. Apparently, they weren't switching off which basically meant that the room was being heated up non stop throughout of the day. As I stood there on my mat half way through the practice I felt like I was in hell. My skin was burning. At one point I seriously contemplated just getting the hell out of there but looking around seemed like I wasn't the only one struggling and a lot of the people around me were feeling the heat. Later, after I took my shower and was getting to leave I heard one of the girls at the reception saying that the room temperature at one point reached 52 degrees C while we were in there. That explains a lot.......I hope they fix it by tomorrow morning!

Day 4

Over the last couple of days I have been drinking approximately 3 litres of water per day but still it seems I am not re-hydrating enough. This morning I woke up with a slight headache which got progressively worse as the day went on. Went to the 4pm class wondering how I'm going to get through the 90 minutes at 42 degree C with my head already feeling like it's about to explode. The class wasn't busy so there were plenty of spots to choose from. Surprisingly once we started, as I moved through asanas the pain kept losing on intensity and by the end of the session it was completely gone. I took my time and really relaxed in the final Savasana. By the time I showered and left the studio, not just that the pain was gone, I was far more relaxed and energised than earlier on in the day. In terms of practice, seems like my focus is coming back and balancing poses are really the ones I am enjoying at the moment. I read somewhere that for yoga you need strength, balance and flexibility but that most people lack and need to work on one of these. Well, looks like my balance is definitely here. At the moment the Pulling Bow Standing posture is my favourite, as I am finally getting the hang of the kicking the leg part. In any case, today was a reminder to rethink my re-hydration. I got some of the Emergen C sachets which I can use in the water after the class and help replace lost electrolytes. Meet my new friends....

Day 3

Writing has never really been my thing. That is something that my brother does very well, I on the other hand have always preferred numbers. Despite that, I decided to create this blog as I secretly hope it will keep me going through the next couple of weeks so please bear with me. I do realise also that for those of my friends who read this and are not familiar with bikram yoga, reading about asanas and other yogi stuff daily might not be as interesting as to the ones doing the practice. Therefore, I will also start blogging about things that I do and like and which keep me motivated, wether that be food I use to keep the energy levels up, music, or other totally random stuff so watch this space...

Today was a good day. T & I took the girls to Tate Modern to see 'Henri Matisse: The Cut-Outs' exhibition. This is something I promised my first born daughter. A couple of weeks ago, by pure chance she saw a short BBC programme "Goldie's Private View of Matisse" where Goldie the musician walks through the gallery and gives a low down on his favourite pieces. Ever since she's been slightly obsessed by 'The Snail' and 'Icarus' whose story I had to recount at least six times today. She came back with two prints that we now have to hang on the wall in her room. Here she is taking it all in. 

We walked a lot today, so I gave myself some rest in the afternoon and went to a 7pm yoga class. It seems to be that the evening mid week classes are the most popular ones. The studio was full today, to the maximum capacity. In total, 71 people squeezed in one small room. My mat was touching my fellow yogis' mats practicing both to the left and right of me and there was absolutely no personal space, but that is something you pretty much have to leave at the door before you go in anyway. Nonetheless, in my experience these busy classes are some of the best I attended as at times the energy and the synchronised movement in the room is incredible and it just carries you through the class. That was the case tonight. The teacher was great, encouraging and guiding us through at a great pace. I had a quick chat with her afterwards, as I wanted to know the aches and pains I am experiencing all over my body are going to get any better over the next 27 days, and her answer in short was - no. She did however suggested getting some Epsom salts, and using them in long baths. Also I should apparently try and get some foam rollers to use on my muscles. Not even sure how these things look like, but will be hitting the shops tomorrow. All in all, totally unexpected after the last two days but today's class was by far the easiest. Feeling relaxed.

Day 2

Morning class today. 10 am. Studio wasn't too busy and it seemed like a perfect start to the day. Walking into the room and sitting down on my mat I could feel my body already aching from the previous day's session. However, 10 minutes into the standing series the pains and stiffness were gone. Initially it seemed I was going to sail through this one but it turned out to be less straightforward. In fact, it felt like my body wasn't allowing me to go as deep into positions as it did the previous day.  On the other hand, I was able to exert much more control over my movements, cut out unnecessary fidgeting and clear my heard for a large chunk of the class. Teacher kept repeating "Go back to your breath" and so I did. So easy, but even more easily forgotten.

About half an hour upon leaving the studio tiredness set in. Heavy body, heavy eyelids kind of tired. I was surprised by this sheer wave of exhaustion when it dawned on me - I just did 2x90mins session in  less then 24 hours. Now, I know there are yogis out there who do far more than that but for me this one is a biggie. If there is anything that will keep me going back to the studio every day with no exceptions during the next 28 days - it is the thought of having to do a double session in one day!

It's 19:42 and aiming to be in bed in an hour. Unprecedented.

Namaste

Day 1

Yesterday I completed day 1 of my 30 day challenge. In retrospect, starting this thing with a 5pm class on a UK Bank Holiday Monday was probably not a great idea. It was hot, sun was shining and I am guessing for most of us in London this mainly means one of the following - park, bbq, pub, or anything that serves drinks and has an open terrace/garden. Driving to the studio I passed by a number of such establishments bursting at their seams, and couldn't help but question my motivation and if I am really prepared to commit to this for the next couple of weeks. I took a deep breath, put all of this sudden self doubt down to good weather and decided to go for it. To hell, we are in England after all, it's bound to rain any moment now!

Got to the class in good time and found a spot in the front row right next to the mirror. When we began with the first breathing exercise (Pranayama) it was pretty clear this was going to be a tough one. Last week's long weekend in Croatia, one too many drinks and cigarettes, a couple of weeks of a very sporadic exercising regime, all came back to haunt me. It was payback time. By the time the breathing exercise was over I was already covered in sweat. However, the standing series begun and a small miracle happened, in the last part of the Half Moon Pose i finally managed to glue my forehead to my legs and lock the knees. After years of on and off practice (well, mostly off), I finally nailed this one! Being in this position felt so different than what it felt like trying to get there all these years. It felt right, something inside me said 'of course!' and it felt good, so good that I just wanted to stay there. The thrill of that moment kept me going through the rest of the standing series which were challenging. Now, I can usually manage the standing head to knee pose, and bend my head down to my knee on good days, but this Monday I was struggling to keep my foot in the air. By the time we hit the floor panic set in and my mind was racing. A frenzy. An avalanche of thoughts. Random, unrelated thoughts. Just as I would get rid of one, another one would come along. It seemed as if my energy was being used up more on this mental struggle rather than the actual physical exercise. I think I managed to find the stillness during only about 10% of the 90 minutes in the hot room. The rest of the time was a battle. I remember the classes from a couple of years ago where my mind was still for all of the 90 minutes. The amazing realisation that for 90 minutes my mind was empty. Resting. I wonder how long it will take me to get there this time around? Something to look forward to.......

On my way back home, the first song the radio played when I got into the car opened with the line "Have you got colour in your cheeks?".... Funny. Crawling back to you Bikram, crawling.... Arctic Monkeys.