Bikram Yoga Do's and Don'ts

I've been doing a lot of reading about Bikram Yoga and other people's take on the proverbial (and sometimes literal) torture chamber lately. There were two articles I recently came across detailing the Do's and Don'ts of your Bikram Yoga class and I wanted to put my own spin on it.

Here are my own top 5 Do's and Don'ts for your Bikram Yoga practice:

Do's

1. Do... Take the time before class to quiet your mind so you’re better able to listen to the dialogue. Everything you’ve ever wondered about the practice, the postures, the breathing, everything – it’s all in the dialogue. There are still classes after 8 years of practicing (and having the dialogue so ingrained in my mind I could – and sometimes do – recite it in my sleep) where I will hear something in a new way and it just clicks and makes sense in my body, deepening my practice and my understanding of the posture. It’s only possible to get to that level when you’re able to quiet your own internal dialogue and be present and receptive to what the teacher has to say.
2. Do... Have everything you need at your mat before class starts. Ok, for your first few classes this might not apply, but if you are a Queen (or King) of Kleenex and have a habit of walking to the front of the room for a tissue during party time, plan ahead! Grab a couple before class and keep them within reach. This will limit the amount of excess movement during class, which will save you energy and not distract your fellow students or teacher!
3. Do...Stay in the room. Even if you’re having the hottest, most difficult class of your life, the best thing you can do for yourself is to just take it easy. Kneel down, lie down, do whatever you need to do, but stay in the room! The teacher won’t call you out for sitting out a posture or two, but they will if you bolt for the door. The change in temperature can be a big shock for your system, so just accept that once class starts, you’re in there until the end. Trust me, it’s possible even through the hottest classes – I’ve yet to leave the room during class and I’m still here to write about it.
4. Do... Move together. Whether you believe it or not, your neighbours in the room have a big influence on your class. It’s important to support one another by engaging in the collective energy and moving in and out of postures together, sharing energy and strength throughout the class. Pay attention to if you are consistently the last person to grab your foot in standing head to knee or raise your arms over your head for triangle. If so, try to break these habits and in turn inspire your fellow yogis.
5. Do... Set mini goals for yourself. There are always things to work towards in yoga, and it’s not just about having the perfect postures. Having small goals in class will help to keep you accountable during your time in the hot room. Maybe it’s to avoid wiping your sweat (see below), to stay in the room, or to touch your forehead to your knee. Whatever it is, small, achievable goals will hold you accountable while deepening your practice. 

Don’ts

1. Don't... Take yourself so seriously! It’s just yoga, no need to make that angry face at yourself in the mirror. Sometimes we don’t even realize the faces we make in the room until someone calls us out on it. One of my current struggles is to SMILE, especially during Standing Bow. All my energy is concentrated on the kick, the reach, the balance – none of it can be spared for a smile. Or so it seemed. Once I started to practice smiling in the posture everything felt a lot lighter, and a lot less frustrating if I lost my balance or fell out of the posture. I really believe that if we take our practice less seriously, we will take ourselves less seriously outside of the hot room. How we approach our practice is how we approach our lives.
2. Don't... Wipe your sweat! I get it, sometimes sweat gets uncomfortable, especially when we’re not used to sweating as profusely as you do in a Bikram Yoga class. Sweat is the body’s natural air conditioning system, working to cool the body down. When we wipe the sweat off our skin, we’re taking away that cooling system and our body will naturally begin to warm up even more. On top of that, even more energy is expended working to get that sweat back to the skin. In short, every time you wipe your sweat, you are going to feel hotter and hotter. 
3. Don't... Come to class on a full stomach. Just like the advice not to swim after eating, it’s important not to avoid eating prior to practicing yoga. Not only is it going to be seriously uncomfortable to practice if you’ve recently eaten, it’s going to feel a lot more difficult that normal. When the body is busy digesting, blood flow is directed away from the muscles to the digestive system. What happens when these two areas of the body are competing for blood? Neither systems end up with enough oxygen and you may begin to feel weak and even light headed. Not fun. 
4. Don't... Chug your water. This is definitely something I have a hard time with. It’s not easy to stop chugging your cool, refreshing water once you start! It turns out that the water you drink during class doesn’t actually do much in the way of hydration – that has to happen before class. On top of that, any cold water we drink in class has to be brought back to normal body temperature, which takes energy away from where you need it the most.
5. Don't... Let your thoughts take over. When you’re lying in Savasana, it’s normal for thoughts to pop into your mind. The key is to acknowledge them, and then send the on their way. If you’re coming to yoga right after a busy day at work, do your best to let all of that go at the door (or preferably, at the office). Any planning, list making or problem solving can be done after class. Your time in the room is to focus on yourself, and nothing else.