9/30 Bikram Yoga Series 1

 This yoga (Bikram) was taught to the class by Diana Polli and I conducted my practice at my house. My initial reaction to Bikram yoga was that it was more intense that I expected. We immediately began the yoga and I found it slightly hard to keep up with the oral instructions as I was unfamiliar in how the postures moved from one to another. After changing my view so that I could follow along as the class also demonstrated the posture, the class became much more enjoyable. 

The beginning postures were mainly standing which I found to be quite strenuous and slightly more difficult than I could handle. With that being said, I still gave every position my best shot and found that a majority of them really helped to loosen up my muscles and help me feel better. Before long, I began to work up a sweat and also found myself having to take water breaks which is ironic considering this yoga is usually done in a heated room. My favorite of the different postures that we did from this section was the balancing stick posture because it was challenging and I could feel the effects within my hamstrings. My least favorite was probably the eagle posture because I couldn't seem to fully wrap my leg around the other. 

The seated postures were also very enjoyable to me however I feel that they may have been more effective in person. Regardless, I enjoyed how Diana walked us through each pose and how I was able to immerse myself within her words. I especially enjoyed the spine twisting posture and although somewhat difficult I felt that it wasn't a far stretch for a novice to be able to do it with a little coaching. I found the fixed firm pose to be the most difficult from this section mainly because I have knee problems which made this posture rather difficult to do. I enjoyed the floor section of the yoga more compared to the standing section however enjoyed the session regardless. I also enjoyed being able to experience my first live class in the practice of yoga!

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