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