GETTING FIT:Bikram yoga is practised in a room heated to 40.5 degrees and uses a tourniquet technique, whereby stretching and balancing postures reduce blood supply. You have to try it to believe it, writes ANGELA RUTTLEDGE
SUPPLE, FLEXIBLE, calm, pure. All the things I’m not. I can’t get near my toes. Musing over why I’m so envious of the flexible, bendy people, I uncover my own mental link between flexibility and general ability, another link between flexibility and grace, from there a connection with femininity, and finally on to sexuality. In my twisted head it appears that bendiness is mixed up with attraction and success.
I’m also aware that my late blooming enjoyment of running may not last forever – not with my dodgy knees – and when that day dawns, I’ll need a fallback regime to soothe my inner control freak. I’m going to see if Bikram Yoga will be of any comfort.
In 2006, after 10 years in the financial services industry, Gráinne Martin gave up her job to learn how to teach Bikram Yoga. We agree that she packed it in just in time; nowadays, we imagine, people are more reluctant to make that jump into self-employment, doing something they love, rather than something that pays the bills. Martin explains that she had enjoyed spinning classes because they were challenging. But after she met a convert to the Bikram style of yoga who was “positively glowing” she decided she would have to try it. Martin has just opened Dublin’s second Bikram studio, in Fairview (the other is run by Anne Leonard in Harold’s Cross). She explains how Bikram is practised in a room heated to 40.5 degrees. This warms up the body so that it is possible to get into deeper postures.
Bikram also employs a tourniquet technique, whereby stretching and balancing postures reduce blood supply to parts of the body. When the postures are released it causes blood to rush back through the body, the idea being to flush out the arteries. Martin warns this type of yoga is not for everyone – people either love it or hate it – but she recommends I try at least five classes before I make up my mind. She explains that “the first class is challenging, you are dealing with a lot of things, the heat and following the poses”.
An unlikely coincidence found me taking the Bikram class with my older brother. We come from a family where everyone has a back problem. The first question when we meet up for dinner is always, “How’s the roof-rack?” Hence the stiffness: years of treating our bodies like fragile parcels, keeping movement to a minimum.
Like the piper, Martin played the tune, and we followed. The pace was snappy. “Don’t fidget . . . Keep your eyes open . . . Move beyond your own flexibility,” she commanded. “Switch – no hesitation.” But if we felt dizzy, we should lie still. As with all types of yoga, practice makes perfect. We were told to go at our own pace. I kept an eye on my brother in the mirror during the 90-minute class, checking he wasn’t having a heart attack, but I was amazed that we both at least attempted each of the 26 asanas or postures. We were surprisingly well able to keep up, and fairly limber because of the heat.
Bikram yoga, founded and developed into a business by Bikram Choudhury, is claimed to be “scientifically designed”.
I’m not sure what that means, but I do love the proposition that, with the heat and the tourniquet effect, I am flushing the toxins from my body. I don’t know if this was the case, but I was certainly gloriously sweaty. For this reason it’s very important to come to class well hydrated and to rehydrate after class. The heat creates the same fantastic feeling I get when sunbathing.
Afterwards, I felt unusually well and clear-headed, and friends nodded vigorously when I demanded confirmation that I was looking fresh. The next day I was accused of having had a facial. I hope this radiance is sustained, and I will definitely return, brother in tow, to avail of Martin’s opening offer: 10 consecutive days of yoga for €29.
As part of this series on fitness, in the coming weeks, Angela Ruttledge will explore other forms of yoga, including yoga therapy for people with injuries