Intro (Why I'm Torturing Myself)

Hey everyone,

Thanks for starting this journey with me. I'm Eva, I'm 32, and tomorrow, I begin my 6 week Bikram Yoga challenge! To those who don't know, Bikram yoga is done for 90 minutes and is 26 poses. The additional challenge is that the room is hot (like 104 degrees hot).

To be fair, I kinda cheated before deciding to do the yoga challenge. Normally, brand new people start out doing a challenge as they begin Bikram. But, I have been casually doing Bikram for 7 weeks. I have a good reason for testing it out before embarking on a challenge.

I have Cerebral Palsy which means for me, I use a power wheelchair to get around and spell out what I want to say on a letter board. This also means my muscles are always tight. I was not sure if I could even do Bikram or how my body would react. Finding a studio was an interesting experience. I called at least 8 studios and explained my situation. They were not exactly rude, but not exactly excited either.

Until I called Bikram Yoga Pasadena and spoke to Val, the owner. She was excited and encouraged me to come to her class and try. Because of my disability, I need to adapt some of the positions. For example, I do the standing series in my chair. My first class, I obviously had no clue what to do, but Val seamlessly adopted positions to fit.

For the 6 week challenge, my goals are to:

-Go to class 3 times a week
-Sit upright, on the mat, unassisted for 5 minutes 
-Get both my right arm and right leg straight out
-No rolling while on the floor (To lie straight on my back)
-To fully command breathing during all breathing exercises
-To straighten my leg in head to knee pose

These 6 weeks will be difficult, but I'm excited to see what I can do! I start tomorrow and I plan to blog after each class.