Hot Yoga Vs. Bikram

So I just finished 2 weeks of practicing only Hot Vinyasa. It wasn't so bad. I still find any type of hot practice as something I will want to do once in a blue moon and never as a regular practice. I'm really curious about people who do this as a regular practice and whether or not they also have a regular not hot Yoga practice?

Why I prefer Hot Vinyasa over Bikram
• The room is not as boiling hot, so I don't feel like I'm suffocating or being cooked for dinner.
• The instructors don't bark pose commands at me but are much more gentle.
• The challenge isn't stay in a super hot crowded room with lots of sweaty people for 90 minutes..the challenge is to keep breathing.
• In Bikram you will get the same series over and over again in every class, Hot Yoga is more free flowing and each class will be different.
• Carpeted floors in Bikram, regular wood flooring in Hot Vinayasa (doesn't feel as gross but does call for more slippage)
• I feel the instructors can make an impact on their class more or less since they can change up the sequencing intuitively. Instructors can make an impact in class in Bikram as well but being the same series I feel its not as apparent.

Notes on any type of hot practice:
• Be EXTRA in tune with what your body wants and doesn't want.
• Skip poses when needed
• Drink water before class...even better -coconut water
• Drink water when you need to during class but don't O.D. bc it will affect some asanas like twists, binds and backbends.
• Breathe
• Use towels and be careful of slip and falls on the mat!
• Be careful of sweaty floors when you are walking out of class too!
• Not the type of practice you should push yourself too hard.
• Not recommended in the winter -the hot sauna like temperature will open up your pores and then when you got outside into the cold your body is open to sickness, wind and cold!

In conclusion, I enjoy the hot practice but not as a regular practice. Prana Power is a good studio if you want to try a hot class!

My Third Bikram class

Advice I got from friends who LOVE Bikram Yoga:
Drink a Zico or some kind of coconut water before class
Hydrate before class
Get a spot near the window!
Keep going because you will always feel like you hate it sometimes, but feel good afterwards.

So this morning I decided to get up early and try a 7am class. I am the type of person that likes early morning workouts because they're out of the way and then I have no way of talking myself out of working out later in the day. I drank 2 cups of water before I left, at the studio I drank a small Zico. I was there early enough to choose a spot. I did sort of mess up at first and just pick some place near the window however a heater was point directly at me! My hands started burning in the beginning. During halfmoon! So I moved to the front row, still near the window but away from the heat fans.

WELL! Today I had a pretty awesome class. I got through every posture. Only drank a quarter of my water. So the problems were that I had to pee by the end, kinda bad. Not bad enough to mess up the practice but enough that I didn't drink when maybe I should have and then I was getting headaches during the times I had to sit up and lay down and get back up. It also helped a lot that the class was not crowded at all and I didn't have anxiety in a crowded locker room as I did previously. The first two classes I took were mat to mat PACKED. So maybe the answer is 7am classes. I am going to try the 9:30 and 10ams too.

I am liking that I don't hate it today. :)

Hmmmm Bikram Yoga....hmmmm.

OK I can't really say too much about Bikram Yoga since I've only taken 2 classes, but I do NOT love it. I am doing a 1 month trial with it and I find myself feeling like...what I would think it would be like to be in a sweat lodge! OK so what must a sweat lodge feel like? Forget it! I normally love camel pose bc I am so back bendy but that is the point in the series where I start to feel so UGH I have to skip it! I start getting the feeling I'm stuck in a bed burrito with a 103 fever. Happened at the same time in both classes!

I much prefer Hot Yoga with Vinyasas and wood floors and no one telling me when I can drink water. After my month of Bikram I will be doing an official Bikram Vs. Hot Yoga post according to me. And I will actually take more than the 2 classes I've taken. I do have a few friends who love it and have suggested to me to keep sticking to it and I will eventually like it too, so I'm remaining open to it.