Now I do the yoga, now I know the difference
For ten years I was looking for a way to be more flexible. I was incredibly stiff. Previously, I thought: “those short muscles I can play football with, they’re really good for fast turning and sprinting. It all seemed fine. I thought if my muscles would get longer they were losing their strength. Now I do yoga, I know better.
I was extremely hesitant to start yoga, as I have a tremendous dislike for gyms and indoor fitness sports and I do not like airy-fairy vague concepts. A friend of mine did Bikram and as he told it, it created a picture in my head of me sitting in lotus position, a picture I’d happily and easily let fade all too quickly.
Permanent maintenance
Eventually, when I was about 48, I was so rigid and stiff when I woke up in the mornings. I made a habit of doing some small exercises or stretches under the hot shower each morning and after about 30 minutes I could move a little better. However, I began to think, if this is the story of my body at 48, what will happen when I am 60 or 70 years old? Never mind that I had serious back problems for 30 years, for which I went to the chiropractor every week. Also there were my gout attacks, leaving my feet so painful I could hardly walk sometimes. The situation was, in short, not optimal. My body had continuous maintenance required and more I began to doubt whether I was doing it the right way.
Bikram Yoga saves me 600 euros per year
When I read an article about Bikram Yoga and spondylitis patients, I became curious. My son of 24 has this disease and I was wondering if Bikram Yoga would be beneficial for him. Together started the intro week and went four times that week. After the intro week I bought a 10 lesson card and by the time I finished the 10 lessons within 2 months, I had no problems with my back. The stiffness in the mornings was a thing of the past and no more gout attacks or the medications associated to remedy the symptoms. I removed physiotherapy benefits from my insurance plan which saves me €600 per year. Not to mention my son also found tremendous benefits.
Better in my other sports
Absolutely everything in my body moves smoothly. I run with more ease, I make moves on the football field that I did not go as smoothly in my younger years, skiing I am much better, and even ice skating and golf too. However, I am not practicing any of these sports with more frequency, in fact, in some cases actually less. It is, since doing Bikram Yoga, mostly times 3 to 4 classes per week, that I am better at all these other activities. I can easily without training for it just walk, run or hike 7 to 10 kilometers, out of the blue. Playing football goes much better in terms of strength, flexibility and endurance. My balance is much better and therefore I can easily take a ball and from there move again.
Challenges found in the yoga itself
In the beginning I did Bikram Yoga mainly for the benefits it gave me, but after a while I found a challenge in the yoga itself. I listened more and more to the instructions and discovered my own challenge in the practice. I continue to raise the bar ever higher for myself. That’s the beauty of Bikram Yoga, I think: you can always improve yourself, you just keep trying the best you can, it is never really easy because as you improve you find somewhere further to go. Yes, it is heavy I won’t lie, but if you do your best, you’ll be rewarded in many ways. In that sense it is not a question for me whether or not I go to yoga, I just do and feel great for it. And therefore I say, just come, do it for at least a month and then judge for yourself, but you must be willing to put in the time and work hard.
And my son …? He has, since starting Bikram Yoga, reduced his medications and halved the inflammation values of his symptoms. Even though he does not always like Bikram Yoga, he feels better doing it therefor knows he must do it and makes it a priority in his life.
Naam: Hans
Leeftijd: 52
School: Bikram Yoga Den Haag
Geboren in: Den Haag
Beroep: business consultant
Bikram Yoga sinds: september 2014
Reden: werken aan souplesse
Bikram Yoga helps me with my ADHD
Actually, I had felt that I was ‘different’ all my life. I was not able to concentrate well at school, I made more mistakes at work than others and I also reacted too impulsively and directly in conversations. Yet I did not think much about it: it was just like that and I lived with it as well and as bad as it went. Until at one point I got stuck in my life, although I did not suspect at the time how much this crisis was related to my ‘idiosyncrasies’.
I came to the doctor about a year ago with complaints. In a tumultuous period I had remembered and re-lived traumatic experiences from my childhood. This had a deep impact with me. I was sometimes overwhelmed by emotions several times a day and was always happy when my workday was over. At home I could at least let my tears run free. When my doctor heard this story, he took it very seriously.
In their place
Soon the suspicion of ADHD arose. Studies at PsyQ confirmed this and then I had a diagnosis. I found it very confronting: something was wrong with me. I had become a patient, something I had never seen myself as… But because of the diagnosis many things fell into place. Now I understood why when at school during reading exercises I was lost because I would end up many pages ahead of the group and forget my whole environment of what was currently happening around me. Sometimes I lashed out at people with my impulsive comments during a serious conversation; within me it was such a jumble of thoughts, images and associations, and difficult to find my way out of the confusion.
Medication
Under the supervision of my therapist, I tried medicine for six months to bring the symptoms of my ADHD to an acceptable level: methylphenidate, dexamphetamines, Wellbutrin and Strattera. It was quite a puzzle, because I suffered heavily from the side effects of the drugs. Eventually we ended up with a 50 mg dose of dexamphetamines, which at the time showed the best results for me when I took the Qb test. This is a test that measures your concentration, movement and impulsivity. The improvement over my first test without medication was the greatest at this dose of dexamphetamines.
Side effects
I used this medicine for a while, but I did not think the positive effects outweighed the side effects. What I mostly missed was peace in my head. Structured thinking still did not work, while I had a lot of side effects. In September 2016, I therefore stopped using medicines. At that moment I had come in contact with two people in a short time, who recommended Bikram Yoga. One of them also had ADHD. I was curious about the benefits of Bikram Yoga for me and besides: PsyQ and the doctor offered no alternatives for the medication. During my vacation, at the end of August 2016, I made the introductory offer and since then I come five or six times a week.
Strong improvement
Now, six months later, the results do not lie. The result of my Qb test in February 2017 was much better than my test with medication less than a year before. My concentration has increased a lot, I make far fewer unconscious movements with my body and my impulsiveness has decreased. My doctor at PsyQ even said that she had never seen such minimal movements. She takes my results to the doctor’s discussion to see if anything can be done with it in the treatment of people with AD (H) D.
But I do not only notice the test. For example, my supervisor told me that he had noticed for a while that I am making fewer mistakes in my work. And personally I see that I can better control my impulses. Of course I sometimes interrupt somebody, but I do it less often.
Happy with Bikram Yoga
I’m glad I started doing Bikram Yoga.The people at Bikram Yoga Den Haag know what they are doing. They are sweet and caring and keep a close eye on you. I feel safe there. Bikram Yoga has helped me tremendously with ADHD, but also with my depression and high blood pressure. I am already off my antidepressants and who knows, I can also leave the medication for my high blood pressure at a given moment. Anyone with ADHD who is curious about alternatives to, or supplements to, their medications I sincerely invite you to try this yoga. Who knows, you might be as surprised by the results as I am!
Naam: Paul
Leeftijd: 52 jaar
School: Bikram Yoga Den Haag
Geboren in: Schipluiden
Beroep: Calibratietechnicus
Bikram Yoga sinds: Oktober 2016
Reden: ADHD-klachten