Bikram Yoga - Healing or Simply Hell?

I've been practicing various styles of yoga (Bikram, Iyengar, Ashtanga, 'Flow') for ten years now. I kind of slacked off during the school year (ok, not kind of, I did slack off) but started up again a few weeks ago. A studio near my house was having a special: $29 for a month of unlimited yoga. Bikram yoga is hot yoga. This studio cranks up the room to 105 degrees. The purpose of this is to warm your muscles to prevent injury and detox your system. I've done Bikram before, but only at 90 degrees. What is 15 more? Well, I tell you, it's hell.

After my first class, I lost one pound of sweat. I'm not sure that's a good thing? I couldn't do all the postures - not because I was too stiff (which played a part, I admit), but because I felt like I was going to have a minor stroke. My t shirt was drenched in the first ten minutes; sweat raining on my yoga mat. Then there was the smell. Suffice to say, it was quite foul. While doing triangle pose, I was amazed that my wrists were sweating. The air was searing and I found no relief breathing. Surely, I was dying, but I managed to power through thinking, "I am not attached to this pain, this is good for me, I am not attached to this pain..."

At least I wasn't alone in my misery (yes, I am one of those people who takes comfort in other people's misery). People were constantly going to the bathroom to rinse their faces or vomit. I thought, "...after this next person comes back, I'm going." At that moment, the owner of the studio, who was participating in class, announced, "If one more person goes to the bathroom!!! It's like a f*c&!$g highway in here!!" Ohhhh...K, guess not!

At the end of class, the instructor opened the window two inches and cool air never felt so good. A woman leaving class took a deep breath and announced, "THAT is the smell of feeling good!" WTF? I had to reply, "Are you out of your friggin mind?! THAT is the smell of dog anal glands and dirty socks- only worse!!!" Actually, I really said, "Ummm, no, the smell is, well...bad." "No, no..." she insisted, "It's the smell of feeling good," I decided not to argue with a woman high on the scent of dog anal glands and dirty socks. Obviously, there was not going to be a connection. I went home, rang out my wet clothes and had a nice Thai dinner. I do admit my body felt good but my mind? Not so much. Wonder why?

So, what do I do after that so not yoga experience? Well, I'm going back tonight, of course. Hopefully, there will be no swearing. I have a nice bottle of cab waiting so I can re-tox afterwards. Yoga is about balance, after all.