"Lie down on your mat if you feel nauseated, but please don't leave the room". And lie down I did. It was my first Bikram Yoga class. The room was heated to a searing 110 degrees. I could hardly breathe. I could barely keep up with the rest. I was drenched, the room was spinning around me, and I had run out of water. Lovely yoginis in skimpy attires stared at me wondering "dude, aren't you from India?" I lay low, very very low.
Bikram Yoga is a form of the Hatha discipline and comprises of 26 postures performed over a period of 90 minutes in a room heated to match the temperature of the human body. Heating the room is a controversial practice. Traditional "Asthanga" Yoga is practiced at room temperature and the body is trained to generate enough heat to loosen the muscles. The Bikram school argues that heating the room loosens muscles, prevents injuries, and helps get into postures that traditional yoga would take months to achieve.
The class came to a conclusion. I had lay on the mat for a good 30 minutes. The contortionists around me had put me to shame. I hurriedly gathered my kit and vowed to master the "toe stand" even if it meant defocusing from tennis for a few weeks.
