Saturday, June 4, 2011

A Day of Firsts

Friday June 3rd was a day of firsts. 
  • My 1st day back in the UK after 18 months
  • My 1st Bikram Yoga class outside of Australia
  • My 1st Bikram Yoga class in a British accent
  • The 1st time I spewed my guts up after a Bikram yoga class

Here I am back in the UK. Nothing has changed much, the odd new block of houses have appeared, everything is looking lush and well watered and the local drivers have challenged me beyond belief.

I flew into Manchester at 7pm Thursday night and I was home and in bed for 10pm. I thought I'd be back on GMT pretty quick but alas no, wide awake at 3am. Gave me chance to get some hydration going on and unpack. I'd already made a decision that I would get myself to Leicester for a class in an attempt to kick the jet lag. This was easy as I was awake so making the 7:13am train was a breeze.

I paid an horrific amount for an on peak train ticket the equivalent of $90 aussie dollars. It gave me the chance to study dialogue and chill out but my budget is not stretching to that so I will be taking my mum's car next week and doing battle with the M1. Parking for three hours is 3 pounds and fuel will be about a tenner. The studio gave me the intro off of 30 pounds for 30 days which was well on budget.


I had a very warm welcome at Bikram Yoga Leicester. Had a nice chat with a regular student whilst waiting to go in. The instructor Rachel was lovely and personally showed me around so I knew where everything was. Huge changing rooms and an airy, bright chill out room. The studio is huge! No air con vents but ceiling fans that were on the whole time to circulate the air. It was a strange hotness in the room. It was very drippy and humid but when it came to the floor my towel was wet but a cold feeling wet. Quiet nice actually. Cool wet towel.


I had a fare class to say my brain was spinning. I tried every posture but not to the best of my ability. Rachel was very motivating and kept highlighting the fact I'd just got off a 24 hour flight and was still standing for those who were slacking off a bit. It was so nice to hear the dialogue in a regional accent. I loved the local lingo that was dropped in "come on lass you can do it." At one point a new student was asked if she was having fun as well. Wiping sweat was "illegal" which I thought was hilarious. I never wipe sweat so I was in the clear there. I did however get policed when I went for a water break at Fixed Firm. "We don't do water breaks here." But was let off due to my jet lag status and everyone got to drink.


I was flagging. I struggled through Triangle & took a standing break on the last left side. This did confuse a few people around me who also stepped back left. Sorry, I upset the balance/flow. I was out of fuel big time. I'd eaten four hours before the start of class and was feeling it. Jet lag gets me like that, I go from not hungry at all to feeling nauseous starving in an instant. I should have known better and had a two hour before protein snack. I made it through, had a shower, a nice chat at the front desk and off I went back to the train.


I was feeling wobbly, second sweat was dripping, I was chugging the 1.5 litre of non chilled water as I went. By the time I sat on the platform I wasn't well. I felt hungover. I tried to eat a muesli bar but it was so dry I couldn't swallow it. I got on the train, settled into the window seat and tried to have a nap. Five minutes in when the train started rocking I bolted. Literally hurdled over the mother & child sitting next to me, ran down the carriage to the toilet, of course they were gonna be at the other end!!  Only just made it. Gone, wasted was all the lovely 1.5 litres of water I'd consumed. It was nasty experience, train toilets are vile but I managed it without actually touching anything but the wall. I was impressed I'd managed to hold on for an hour after class and that was the first time I have spewed after a class. It did feel good to get it all out. Jet lag, low blood sugar, tiredness, motion sickness, oh the list could go on. I was most probably really dehydrated from the flight too. 

It hasn't put me off. I will be more prepared and back there for the Monday 9:30am class. These mini learning curves are all very useful and I can put them to use in LA.

4 comments:

  1. oh man. ive never puked after class came close but its never happened to me yet. sounds horrible! but glad you felt better afterwards and all that was in there was water. im sure thats better than a belly full of spicey food.

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  2. It was nasty for sure! Yes it certainly was all water as all my food had well digested, think that was half the problem, I needed some fuel. Might steal some puke bags off the plane for the 1st few TT classes....ergg that's gross planning ahead aye!!!!

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  3. Wow. It is interesting what is "legal" and "illegal" at different studios. Here, while we are told that it really is useless and a distraction to wipe the sweat away, no one admonishes us for doing so. Secondly, almost EVERYBODY takes a drink while getting into the first part of Fixed Firm... it is sometimes known as "Aguasana". You are very strong... no way I try a class that soon after flying halfway across the planet!! Peace.

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  4. Thanks Mark, hmmm looking back now I think I was crazy rather than strong to take that class but if we don't challenge ourselves at some point we'll be stuck in a rut. Funny it has taken a week to get back to normal with the jet lag.

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