Yoga Update

I have been going to the local Bikram studio for a little over two months now.  While it is not the familiar confines of my former Longwood studio, I've gotten used to things.

Since the studio uses an online scheduling system, I can tell which teachers are teaching on which day.  I took two classes from the one mush-mouth instructor before he left for a trip to Nepal.  I think he was itching to go on vacation and was just kind of phoning it in.  Since he returned, he's been much more active in his teaching and is actually doing a pretty decent job.  There is another teacher whose Russian accent is too distracting.  She says certain things just like I'd imagine Dracula would, so needless to say, I don't attend too many of her classes.  Being distracted by thoughts of Dracula saying he wants to suck your blood makes for a weird class.


I can register for a class ahead of time if I know that classes on a particular day tend to fill up fast.  The classes have been pretty packed so far.  I wonder if now that the weather is warming up (the high today is 82 and tomorrow the high is supposed to be 79) if fewer people will be coming.


I have also figured out where the slack-ass students camp out.  Regardless of the studio, it seems that everyone has theories about where the warmest and coolest places are in the room.  In this studio, I gravitate towards the warmer parts of the room because I'm used to Florida's humidity.  My fellow practitioners have no clue how good they have it.  I have yet to leave the room after class with every inch of my clothing soaked like it was in Florida, and it's definitely hot in the room.  The humidity levels are just not as high, it's a big room with three plate glass windows on one wall, and there are four ceiling fans.


Bikram's series is called Beginning Yoga as it takes many years of practice to be ready to move to the advanced versions of postures.  Just because something is labeled "beginning", it doesn't mean it is easy.  The local studio offers a weekly Advanced Yoga class just as the one in Longwood does, but they also offer a weekly, one hour Posture Clinic.  The instructor focuses on a posture or two for the session.  The session is free.  I thought this was pretty cool and less intimidating than taking the advanced class.  It's only an hour, and you have some one-on-one time with an instructor which isn't doable during class.


I definitely miss the consistency of having one or two instructors.  I also miss the random stories and reflective motivation both Skip and Julie shared during the two minute savasana and after class.