Bikram Yoga - Can it do all that in 60 days?

I walk into Bikram Yoga Columbia today to get started (more like contemplate) on the 60 Day Challenge - it is day 2 of the challenge and I have to do a double this week sometime. I was kinda hemming & hawing about doing the challenge but I managed to drag myself over to my studio in this freezing hawk. I told myself "I'll see how I feel."

The minute I walk into the studio - "TravelDiva, you are doing the challenge, right?" and from several more people - "Did you see the article in "O" Magazine?" Well, as a matter of fact, I had not. Come to find out, nobody had actually seen/read the article. Most thought it was a blog thing talking about one woman's experience doing the 60 day challenge. Everybody was going on and on about how I had "done that already" (click link to go back and read my post about my very first challenge) and I should write to Oprah, etc. etc. It was very flattering and I was like "hell yeah, we should do something on the studio site and chronicle this 60 day challenge."

Well, Bikram Yoga Columbia's finest instructor and studio owner, Kat, was already on top of it. She plans to take all of the participants photo's and measurements, do pictures and testimonies along the way with a grand finale at the end. FABULOUS. You know, of course, I will have to put in a blog post or two along the way.

As for the article in "O"...on the way home from class, I stopped at the store and picked up the magazine to check out what all the broo-ha-ha was about.

"She 's 80 pounds overweight, divorced, out of work, [depressed] and deeply in debt. She needs a physical and spiritual overhaul. Can 60 days in a Bikram hot-yoga studio really undo years of damage?"

The article is well written and I laughed my azz off at some of her thoughts and comments about the 60 days. I have experienced the same damn things:

• Why does everyone but me have a tattoo. Do I need one? What would I get?
• Will I EVER be able to contort my body (my fat) into a Japanese Ham Sandwich?
• I really don't want to "look into the eyes of my best teacher" (mine) cause the site is yuck.
• Will I EVER get to wear little boy shorts and a tiny bra? Do I ever want to?

So, can 60 consecutive days of Bikram Yoga give you a physical & spiritual overhaul? I don't know about anybody else, but for me, the answer is yes. When I couldn't run anymore because my knees were just not having it anymore, when my back was killing me, when I was self-medicating with cocktails and an occasional Xa.n.ax (sometimes together), when my nerves were shot, my weight escalating - I found Bikram Yoga and I found my stride again.

After about 6 months and 1 30 day challenge, I was back to running and completed the Clydes 10K, my back no longer hurts, I still have cocktails but not the pills. When my nerves get bad, I go to class and I'm finally losing some weight.

"They learned, as I am learning, that the body begins to crave Bikram - the heat, the moves, the comfort of healthy discomfort."

I couldn't agree more. I have yet to find an exercise this intense that requires so much focus, that clears your mind, that gives you permission to think only on yourself and your well being. A workout that not only transforms your body but your mind.

I love it.

Why don't you join me and see what 60 days of focus on YOU can do? I promise you won't be disappointed.