Sneaky September

Bikram Yoga Inspired
By Mary Margaret Thomas

Practicing Bikram yoga has impacted my life in so many ways for the positive, I don't know quite where to begin...so I'll begin from the beginning. I first began practicing at a studio in Nashville in 2003 after my father passed away when I was in college. At that point I was one of those students like many of my friends who was burning the candle at both ends, filling up my days with studying, reading, and organizations I was involved in, and my nights with meeting new people and being social, but I often neglected that which was needed most- time to myself for stillness and regrowth. I started out wearing a t-shirt and running shorts to class and absolutely hated it the first few times. I heard it was normal at first to be completely uncomfortable and that I should at least give it a week, so after three classes and realizing the profound mental quietness I found after practicing and the rejuvenating feeling of detoxifying my body, I was pretty much hooked. The first few classes I went to, I think I cried my way through several parts, realizing that my tears and the sweat were one in the same, and I was giving my body the best gift I could possibly afford: I was taxing my physical, emotional, and mental parameters, and realizing I was so much stronger than I'd given myself credit for. We all are. It can be those moments that we push ourselves out of comfort zones- whether it be in yoga, in our professional lives, or in building new relationships- that are the most conducive to growth, even if we don't realize or appreciate them at the time...

My yoga practice was a fairly regular part of my life from that point forward, even though I didn't have the time or money to practice as often as I wanted to. Sometimes I was lucky if I went once a month. When some friends and I decided to train for our first marathon our senior year of college, we decided Bikram Yoga would be an integral part of the training. I went regularly at least three times a week for about three months. I couldn't believe the difference. I'd done three half-marathons prior, but none of those races were as effortless and enjoyable as my full marathon, and I had Bikram Yoga to thank entirely. In fact, I ran less to train for the marathon than any of the other races I'd done. My core was stronger, back was straighter, and lung capacity was better than it had ever been; and for anyone who is a runner they understand the mantra "mind over matter"- my ability to embrace mental peace and focus as a result of yoga had become more valuable than ever.

More recently in the last year and a half yoga has inspired and calmed me through new challenges and chapters in life- a nursing masters program, a difficult breakup, an insulin sensitivity, a stubborn ineptitude in adjusting to the wet coolness of the PNW after having grown up in the South-just to name a few...and I still incorporate yoga as an "anti-training" method of staying in shape and taking on new physical challenges, and my joints thank me daily. I recently went on my first "bike tour" with a friend. We covered 90 miles in two days, which was a first for both of us. Thank you, Bikram Yoga! It amazes me how much I appreciate coming back to my practice after being gone for a few days or weeks- it is so beautiful, and each class is entirely unique to where your body and mind are that day and what you are giving and taking from it. The energy from other students in class and the instructors is infectious and invigorating, and I am so thankful for it.

So when you think to yourself you couldn't possibly have time in your day to practice, consider how your practice creates time in essence by way of creating peace and focus. And now a quote from Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet that reminds me of the Bikram practice and its place in our busy lives: "You shall be free indeed when your days are not without a care nor your nights without a want and a grief, But rather when these things girdle your life and yet you rise above them naked and unbound." (or sweaty, exhausted, and at peace :)

Namaste,
Mary Margaret Thomas

Mary Margaret can be found practicing at The SweatBox on Capitol Hill

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