Years ago, when the only thing that would get me moving was hearing that Ben & Jerry’s ice cream was on special at the local supermarket, I somehow found Bikram. I can’t remember how or why I was drawn to it, but after my first class, I was hooked.
For those unfamiliar with Bikram, it’s a 90 minute class made up of a series of 26 yoga postures and two breathing exercises performed in a room heated to around 40 degrees and 40 percent humidity. The guy who came up with the concept, Bikram Choudhury, is something of a controversial figure in the yoga world due, in part, to the sexual harassment cases that have been filed against him and the fact he champions yoga ‘competitions’ (which seems a little out of the spirit of yoga).
Anyway, I put all my views on Choudhury aside and went along to True Fitness in ZEN, Central World, to see if I still loved Bikram, five years after I last took my first class.
I arrived at the studio and immediately remembered two things a) the room is much, much hotter than I’d remembered and b) pretty much everyone else does the class in their bra and undies (or just undies if they’re a guy). I was wearing some slinky leggings and a thin top, but I felt like I’d just arrived on Muscle Beach wearing an arctic coat. I vaguely considered whipping my top off and wearing just my bra and leggings then reconsidered when I looked around at the hot bods in the room.
The class starts with a breathing exercise which, if you’re not used to breathing exercises, does make you feel a little bit of a fool. The class then progresses to various well-known yoga postures, such as the half moon pose, awkward pose (less tricky than it sounds) and triangle pose. Each exercise, including the breathing ones are performed twice, while the instructor gives endless instructions about posture and breathing and, dubiously, pushing until you feel pain and not worrying if you feel nauseous.
Her instruction was certainly helpful (although I ignored the stuff about pushing until you feel pain), but the room’s bright lights, the instructor’s microphone and the fact the instruction never stopped put me in mind of a horse racing pundit as the race nears the end. It definitely had the opposite effect on me as compared to most yoga classes.
Rather than feeling blissed out and centred, I felt stressed. The stifling heat, which did make me feel a little nauseous at times, and the fact that the studio was full of mirrors made it very difficult to focus inwards. Instead I had a thought stream along the lines of, ‘Bloody hell it’s hot. I hope I don’t have to be the first one to give up and lie on the mat. Oh my god, my hips look so wide. I wonder if she got that six pack from Bikram.’
Water breaks are rationed and, in the whole class, I only had three opportunities to replace the significant fluids I’d lost through sweating. Nobody takes a Bikram yoga class without looking like they’ve just been caught in monsoon rains.
The actual poses aren’t the challenge. Ok, they’re not wildly easy, but they’re not the kind of contortionist poses you may expect. I think, if it wasn’t for the heat and running commentary, Bikram would be a fairly gentle yoga class.
I wasn’t won over by Bikram and, in all honesty, I couldn’t remember what I’d enjoyed about the class when I got hooked all those years ago. For my tastes, it’s just too uncomfortably hot and too stressful. I couldn’t wait for the class to finish.
That said, it does have a dedicated legion of fans, so there must be something there that appeals to the masses. But, for this girl, it won’t be my class of choice to get my sweat on.
Bikram Yoga is held multiple times a day at True Fitness, ZEN CentralWorld
Free trials are available
True Fitness, ZEN CentralWorld
9th – 11th Floor
999/9 Rama 1 Rd, Pathumwan
Bangkok, 10330, Thailand
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