Is Bikram my future?

Okay, I have been waiting to blog about this but wanted to wait until I had evidence.  Well I have now had my tenth session of Bikram Yoga.  Most people know what Yoga is, even if they have not experienced it.  Bikram Yoga is Yoga in a form that is ideally suited to people with Rheumatoid Arthritis.  Each yoga session lasts for 90 minutes and takes place in a hot room.  Each session has exactly the same twenty-six postures.

Bikram Yoga is not a replacement for dietary changes.  Without having adopted a whole-food plant based diet I would never have been able to get my health to a sufficient standard to be able to attend a single session.  However RA will cause significant damage to the body for most people who suffer it.  Sometimes that damage is in the form of distorted limbs.  In my case, due to arthritis I have not been able to kneel properly for forty years.  Also I have not been able to straighten my right elbow.  The last year's RA has also meant that using my right elbow can cause a searing pain.

So about three weeks ago I felt my health was good enough to get me out of the house.  I thus left and went to my first Bikram session.  Sadly due to traffic problems I was five minutes late and so advised to come back tomorrow!  The next day I went to my first session and I have not looked back.

This is not to say I am having some kind of miraculous recovery, rather that I am perceiving minute but persistent improvements.  When I say "minute" I really mean that - they are tiny.  But improvements are being felt on several fronts.

And so at last I wanted to blog about my reasons for continuing with Bikram Yoga as I feel at this stage.  So here they are:

1. The heat really helps. Just being in the heat is nice, but also it helps improve flexibility through the class. It also brings out that sweat.
2. The sweat really helps. If Rheumatoid Arthritis is about anything it is about impurities in the blood inside your body. Sweating many of those out gives my body a spring clean. After a session it really feels like a cleanse that means less pain in the hours ahead.
3. The relaxation really helps. Right now I neither get up or down to the floor without assistance, but once down, and despite pain in my right elbow I could lie down for a long time...
4. The breathing feels great. Not just the initial pranayama session and the ending "doggy" pant (as I call it) but the continual need to breath steadily helps my chest enormously.  Apparently good breathing also reduces acidosis in the body: and that means less pain!
5. "It helps the digestion." Words from several Bikram teachers affirmed, not least by my improved bowel movements, all mean less pain!
6. The same 26 postures wherever and whenever. It is really good to know what you are letting yourself get into. In my first session I cried inside with a mixture of embarrassment and fear. I stuck through and now calmly read my body, listen to instructions about the posture goals and feel progress. I have tried two venues (Warwick and Oxford, UK) and it is a great relief to know the experience is exactly the same.
7. Taking time to concentrate on me. Every beginners Bikram session is 90 minutes long. I try to get to class early to benefit from the heat as much as possible and I don't hurry away. Mind you with my stiffness I could not hurry if I tried!
8. It's working. I cannot put my finger on exactly what is happening to me, but after 10 sessions I feel something very positive is happening inside my body. But let me try one...
9. I feel warmer. I have felt cold over the last months. However now my circulation must be improving because I feel warmer in myself.
10. A Daily Dose Does Best. I will be doing 4 days at least most weeks. My body needs that, no joke. Missing some days already has felt bad. Bikram is good if you travel because there are centres in or near most major towns and cities. And they all give you exactly the same experience.
11. Drink the water. With Bikram you simply must drink water, before, during and after. Water is so purifying that anything that encourages that regime must be a good thing.
12. What about other yogas? The heat makes me a Bikram person. Bikram teachers are very skilled and know exactly the pain I am going through.  They make sure I don't do too much or the wrong thing.  They also give great personal advice on alternative stretches I can achieve.
13. Everyone at class is so kind and helpful. Each person concentrates on their own frailties and strengths and do not worry about my issues. They just express full-some support for what I am trying to achieve. At my last Warwick session I was told, "I was an inspiration." Not bad for someone who cannot do a single posture!