Hot (aka SWEATY) Yoga

It should come as a surprised to no one that "hot yoga" was an incredibly hot experience.  I showed up in shorts, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes.  This was breaking unwritten yoga rules #1 and #2.  People do not wear shorts to yoga class.  Instead, they wear yoga pants.  I will concede that they must be called "yoga" pants for a reason, but I struggle to see why anyone would wear pants in a 90 degree room.  Additionally, people do not wear tennis shoes to yoga.  Instead, they wear flip flops AND as soon as they get in the door they take their flip flops off.  I was completely clueless.

When I finally untied my tennis shoes and headed into the room, I tried my hardest to blend into the crowd.  Since I am brand-spanking new to yoga, I do not own a yoga mat (unwritten rule #3), but I had read on the yoga studio's website that I could rent one.  Glancing around the room, I saw a row of hooks with yoga mats dangling from them.  I walked over to grab one, when I hear a voice say, "No honey, you don't want one of those, they're used."  Sure enough, my hand landed on a gross, wet mat that was covered in someone else's sweat.  The man who had spoken directed me toward the front of the room.  I found out later that he was the yoga instructor for the day and mentally renamed him yoga-instructor-man (or YIM for short).

Class got going, and YIM started calling out poses.  It was a beginner's class, so luckily he described them in detail as well.  It seemed like everyone else in the group already knew what do to though.  As he called out directions, the YIM also said vague things like "this is something that will help you pick up your grandchildren when you turn seventy."  Ummm, I'm pretty sure "picking up my grandchildren" is far from a priority, but thanks anyway YIM!

Another of the YIM's duties is to walk around a correct people who aren't doing the pose right.  At one point we were doing some intense leg lifts, and the YIM comes over to me.  He says, "You really need to bend your knees more to put your weight on your fingertips."  I'm pretty sure I gave some kind of death stare that read, "What you are suggesting is physically impossible."  The YIM left me alone for the rest of the class.

What's weird about "hot yoga" is that even though you know from the name that is is going to be very hot, you can't physically imagine how much you will sweat.  At one point, I changed poses, and sweat that had come from my wrists and collected in the crease where my wrist meets my hand literally dripped off of my fingers.  Leaving, I felt so soaked with sweat that it was as if I took a shower with my clothes on.

Even after all of that, I actually kind of liked it.  I had one of those intense feelings of accomplishment when the whole thing was over, and I'm pretty sure that I want to try it again next week!

Britt

PS - Milestone!!! I have reached 1,000 views!

PPS - Exciting weekend in store, Ellie and Darci are here to enjoy some Pittsburgh tourism!