Bikram. Days 5-9.

Day 5.
I always enjoy a Bikram class more when it's with people that I know. Lisa, back after being out sick a few days, led tonight. She was spot-on with her detailed corrections and explanations of poses. Also Kat, whom I haven't seen in months, and Lukas were there and we all practiced in a row. A few random observations:

I noticed a new guy at the end of the room who appeared to be my height. He was in the back row (where I rarely sit, because the ceiling is lower) and I was a little concerned for him. With some of the standing postures I noticed him having to maneuver his arms the same way that I sometimes do. We chatted in the locker room afterward, and the dude is only a couple of inches shorter than me. So happy to meet another tall person. If I see him again I'll be sure to save him a spot next to me near the center.

The room felt hotter than usual. This doesn't bother me. If I'm not sweating by the second set of standing separate leg stretching pose, I begin to worry. No slipping on the towel at all tonight, which is always a good sign. Triangle pose felt lighter.

I went to a later class than usual because of my Friday work schedule, which resulted in me having much less time for stretching. But to my surprise, my body was unusually flexible. My joints almost felt like rubber with the butterfly stretch (which rarely happens), and there was signifcantly less resistance with the straddle stretch. Part of the surprise was because yesterday I was quite stiff. There's a definite ebb and flow. Just have to roll with it.

The class was crowded tonight, and Kat and Lucas and I all ended up in a row. Which was nice, except in the back of my head I was concerned about the moment when we would all spread our arms for full locust pose. Thankfully, none of us collided (Lukas graciously spread his arm at an angle), although I had to bring my body about 10 inches above the towel to make room for my arms. As I lay my head on the warm floor, I began having flashbacks of an electric blanket my family owned when I was a child. I remember it had three settings, with these brightly colored buttons...and all of a sudden I was homesick. Hahaha.

The class was a good mix of new and old students. Overall one of the best classes I've ever had. I pulled off two sets of everything, which doesn't happen often. My head felt like it was going to explode by the second set of camel pose, but I stuck it out and didn't go too deep. Very energetic tonight. I'm kind of waiting for everything to suddenly fall apart. Ha ha.

Day 6.
Ughh. Tired. Not as flexible or energetic as last night. Before class, straddle stretch (normally one of my favorites) was just a drag. Fortunately, the room was quite hot and Suah was leading. This was only my second or third time with Suah, but I've noticed that she takes more time than the other instructors between postures, maybe 10 seconds more. I was grateful for the recovery time tonight. I went way too deep on the second set of half moon, which did me in for the rest of the class. Less than 10 minutes in, I was already thinking about sleeping. My brand new blue water bottle was suddenly so slippery I couldn't open it during party time.

After 15 or 20 minutes, a bright spot finally: The first set of standing separate leg stretching pose, my towel was wet enough that I didn't slip at all, freeing me to focus on the posture and go deep. But I was still anxious to finish the class as soon as possible. I was in a slight panic about the water bottle, but I finally got it open while sitting out toe stand. Spine strengthening series was not so bad. Arms much more comfortable on locust pose, almost flat. But by the end of class I was wiped out. 15 minutes on the final savasana and I was still exhausted. The cleaning ajossi kicked me and another young lady out of the room. I came pretty close to telling him off in Korean. I briefly considered going downstairs and complaining to Mike before finally deciding it wasn't worth it.

The Facebook pics of this morning's class look fun. And CROWDED. Lisa said it was good that I wasn't there, and I agree. I definitely would have been knocking some people over during standing series.

Tomorrow will be better.

Day 7.
Tonight was significantly better than last night, but still tired. Although there was some noticeable progress on a few poses. A slight posture adjustment made standing bow a little more comfortable and a little less shaky. Several students seem unusually tired. By tree pose I really, really wanted to sit down. However, by this point a couple of ladies had actually left the room, with one of them taking her towel and not returning. I decided if I sat down, it might create a chain reaction with the rest of the students.

Halfway into class I finally sat out a couple of sets, but only because I was so dizzy. Fortunately I could open the water bottle this time around. (Apparently last time I closed it too tightly before I really started sweating.) Although I ended up drinking a lot more than usual, and suddenly it was almost empty with 20 minutes to go. I noticed another young lady run out of water completely and hand her bottle to Juwon, who stepped outside for a moment to refill it for her. I considered handing her my bottle as well, before deciding to stick it out. At the end of class, I cut my final savasana (usually 10 minutes) short to go refill the bottle and guzzle it.

Day 8.
I was in the room early, but I didn't feel like stretching. At all. Juwon leading again. There were only four people practicing, including myself and Ball next to me. I tend to dislike really small classes, but an advantage is that they seem to force me to focus a little more. (Although having Ball--or any of the instructors--next to me also makes me focus more.) I also appreciated not having to worry about hitting anyone directly behind me. Surprisingly, I didn't sit out any poses. I also saw some unexpected development with spinal twist; I didn't need to grab the edge of the mat while twisting.

Later in the evening, after taking a long walk around my neighborhood, I hit a local 운동장 (exercise area) for 30 or 40 minutes of stretching. The weather was beautiful, and several people were out. Very relaxing evening, and I ended up chatting in Korean with a couple of folks, including a guy about my age who was also stretching and appeared to be really flexible. (Of course we ended up talking about tae kwon do and yoga. He didn't do either.) Afterward, no longer dreading tomorrow's class.

Day 9.
Unexectedly good class tonight. Small class again, but this time around I didn't care. I was worried in the beginning because the first set of half moon was just tiring. I could barely hold it together, and wondered if the rest of the class. After the first set, Ball told us to tighten our legs. I'm sure I've heard this several times before, but somehow it clicked tonight, like I was hearing it for the first time. Or maybe it was because I was freaking out over having to do a second set of this pose. I tightened my legs more than I ever had before and holy cow, the difference was like night and day. I had momentum for the rest of the class after that.