tips for doing the 30 Day Bikram yoga challenge

Took 3 days off Bikram Yoga. Figured I deserved a little break and frankly, I was exhausted and burnt out.

Here’s some little tips I’ve assembled for people who want to do the challenge or are already in the challenge.

feed the imagination
On days where I was unmotivated and bored, I tried to feed my mind all sorts of inspiring thoughts and visual images. Good sources include the Bikram Yoga Championship videos with their amazing poses. I also liked looking at the “good people” in class at how amazing they looked.

Before the challenge, I read a little bit about sports psychology and marathon running. There’s a good article here.

Also blogs from fellow Bikram-Yogis ( there’s a category in my side navigation.) Those blogs got me through some lazy/dark moments and reminded me what a true blessing it is to have Bikram Yoga in my life.

learn how to drink lots of liquid
Someone else gave me this tip, and it only makes sense now. I would gulp down a huge bottle of water about half an hour before class and wondered why I felt so awful. And sometimes, I felt sick just thinking about drinking water and probably drank far too much.

Trick? Little sips throughout the day; mix it up with tea and juice, drink alot before bed and drink while doing something else (for distraction).

laugh and be goofy
I tried not to take myself too seriously and laugh off really bad classes/moments. Having a sense of humor about how much I sucked boosted morale for the next class. If I were too strict and critical of myself, I’d probably given up the challenge after a few days.

get into a rhythm with your “stuff”
I prepare a plastic bag with clean underwear and my toiletries the night before. The bag hangs on a hook in the changeroom, ready for me to grab after a sticky, sweaty class. I jump in the shower, use the toiletries, put on the clean clothes and my dirty clothes go in the plastic bag. Makes it really easy to jump into the shower and go after class rather than fiddling around in my gym bag.

My mat gets a rinse in the shower, sprayed with mat cleaner and hangs over the bedroom door.

And just show up…
My only goal was to show up for class every day for 30 days. Some classes, it was a real fight to get there and a real fight to stay. Keeping my goal simple gave me room to do whatever else I wanted, as long as I came to class every day.
There were 2 days I missed – once due to 4th July transport woes and the other due to post-double class exhaustion. I don’t recommend doing consecutive double classes unless you have to.