Bikram Yoga in Las Vegas is Never the Same Twice
When many people hear that Bikram yoga involves performing the same 26 postures in the same order to the same dialogue each and every class, they assume that it is a monotonous practice; however, nothing could be further from the truth. Each day that you enter a Las Vegas Bikram yoga studio, you have a different class than you did the day before.
The first difference comes from within yourself: your body is at a different point each day, as is your mind. What may have been challenging the previous day may come naturally to you in the next class; conversely, what seemed easy the day before may become challenging, either as a result of your body, or from a tweak that an instructor gives you in class. Many postures that you believe that you have mastered become a struggle again, taking you many months to feel comfortable in the posture again after an instructor has directed you to get your hips in line, lock all ten fingers together, lock your knees, turn your toes in, and so on. Some days, your mind seems to wander far away from the hot room to your grocery list, back to work, or simply to wonder what the difference is between a Japanese ham sandwich and an American ham sandwich. Other days, your mind is focused in the room, your intentions are set, and the words of the instructor guide you perfectly through the postures and you find yourself making breakthrough after breakthrough, kicking out in standing head to knee, keeping your elbows locked in your backbend, and keeping your knees perfectly straight in paschimotthanasana.
The next difference comes from your yoga instructor. While many people say that it should not matter who is teaching your class, that it is always the same, for many practitioners, this does not hold true. Some instructors make the class fly by, some are funny, some are inspirational, some are challenging, and some give you the positive encouragement that you need. There are some instructors who give you the laugh that you need to break the tension by quoting Bikram’s witticisms and one-liners; “Bikram says hold your feet and spread your legs further and further apart, like a popular girl on prom night;” some inspire you, reminding you that with the inner peace that you find, you will become attractive to others and that they will want to be around you; some push you to your limits because you made the mistake of telling them that you like and need to be pushed; and others give you the compliments that you need to push through a posture just when you’re ready to give up.
Although the dialogue is always the same, the presentation is never quite the same, not only in personality, but in emphasis. You may practice Bikram yoga in Las Vegas for six months before an instructor puts emphasis on the portion of the instructions for standing bow pulling pose that remind you to bring your shoulder blade to your chin. While the other instructors were saying it the whole time, you may never have heard it before until someone put emphasis on it in the tone of their voice or specifically corrected your posture.
Ask anyone who has been practicing Bikram yoga for several years and they will invariably tell you that no two classes in their entire experience have been the exact same. When you practice Bikram yoga, you will find that your 90 minutes in the hot room will never again be replicated.
