On our way to the Jail Break 5K in our Brooks ID attire.

On our way to the Jail Break 5K in our Brooks ID attire.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Tried something new-Bikram Yoga Columbia SC

It has been a while since I have blogged!  We of course are continuing to have a great time working out and doing events.  I have so much more I want to share but wanted to let y'all know about the first Bikram Yoga class I took and loved.  I wrote up my class experience for a friend as she was eager to hear about the visit.  I thought I would share my experience with everyone since I wrote her so much!
Remember, try something new, shock your system and do something that scares you everyday-it's fun!  You do not know you do not like something if you never try it, now get out of your comfort zone.

BIKRAM was awesome y'all!!! This and Hot yoga is the yoga for me. I love the heat, maybe it is all the cold winters in NY or the fact that I like it hot and sweaty, who knows ; )

I decided to take the 5:30p class because I wanted to have the owner, Lacy as the teacher to get the full experience.
The drive down to Forest Dr at this time from Lex was a nightmare, way too much traffic with really no direct interstate way to get there. I was all signed up via the web page so I was able to walk in and still spare a few minutes. I had chatted some via FB with Lacy before class and then met her quick before class started. The building is beautiful, she did a great job and also she has some fun clothes for sale.

The Studio was warm a 105 degrees and 40% humidity, but so nice! Some thing's I experienced that are different than the flow, vinyasa classes I am use to taking were; there is no music during class. I found this strange for a few minutes then really did not have time to think about it again. The tone is more "harsh" then any yoga I had taken before. It is a lot more straight forward "this will hurt, deeper deeper deeper!!!" I kind of liked that though, sometimes I just need to be pushed a little harder then I am going to push myself and told what to do. The first 13 poses were all standing and the last 13 (I think) were all laying. The laying poses are different because you do the pose then go into Savasana then on to a new pose. All the laying poses followed this pattern which is different because normally Savasana is just at the end of class. Lacy said it designed this way to get your heart rate down then back up again.

At the very end she did Savasana for a few minutes and turned the lights off. It was a little "harsher" per say then the normal Savasana that I am use to. She went through each body part to relax and then put cold lavender towels in our hands, said namaste and left the room. I will admit normally Savasana is my favorite, it is a time I am able to just be still without doing anything but having to relax. (This is so rear for me to ever do) so I love the nurturing aspect of the towel over my eyes and the deep relaxation of the Savasna I am use to. I would not say I like it better because Bikram was awesome just I feel that self care, long Savasana has such a place in my life as I spend a lot of time running all over that I need/crave those 10 mins at the end of a good yoga class some days!
The laying poses focus was on spine strengthening. Gosh, do I need this. I carry my stress between my shoulder blades and with sitting, running and biking ALL the time I feel like I need posture work and a lot of it! I tell ya, Yoga is Medicine. Now if obamacare would just cover it! LOL

Over all, I loved it. I would love to be closer and have Bikram be a part of my weekly training/workout schedule. However, because of the location  I am unsure I will be able to do that. Lacy is offering 1 month unlimited for 99 dollars. I would love to take a month of classes practicing almost daily and this is a great price.   I just am unsure with PT, Boot Camps, Golds and a few more events to race the next few week that I will be able to. I will give it some more thought and review the schedule to see what works best for me.  She has a lot of different packages/class options as well.

She did say if her studio took off she was thinking of going to Irmo with another location. I asked her to come to Lex and go in the old Firm studio! Lacy, was so nice and approachable. I thanked her for bringing her idea/gift to Columbia for all of us to enjoy. I sometimes wonder if the Midlands of SC is where we will stay long term but really after being here 9 years this is my home. I do not really ever see leaving SC and I have to admit Cola is getting more progressive. It warms my heart and gives me hope for our community when I see things coming to the community to help make our community healthier-Bikram, Pure Barre, Yoga, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods! I love it.
Forest Drive is so fun. Gosh, that would be a cool place to live! However, there are a lot of things I would miss in Lexington and in my neighborhood.

I am thankful that I have the willingness to always want to try new workouts however, I always love them and then it is hard to not be able to do them all the time! EXCESSIVE, it's my nature but hey, I could be excessive over a lot worse things!

Bikram along with hot Yoga at Masala are such a treat when I can go, ahhhh the heat I love so much. I am ready to go back now!
 
Hope to see you there, let me know what you thought! -K

1 comment:

  1. Great post! I did the 1 month package and absolutely loved it! However, I too live in Lexington and that combined with my work schedule makes it virtually impossible to make to class during the week. :( Absolutely one of the best things to come to Columbia in a very long time, and I hope she does expand soon!

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