Sweating to the Tune of Om

Hot yoga.

To some it’s a trend practised by puffed-up hipsters.  To others, like me, it’s a return to yoga with a twist.  Way back in the day, alright the early 2000’s, I made a beeline to a yoga studio close to my work place.  It did mostly Hatha yoga, the perfect kind of yoga for non-type A folk.  (Of whom I am a proud member.)  I quite like yoga.  I like warrior pose (both ways), bridge pose, and savasana at the end.  I still have my yoga mat and carry strap.

Life, of course, happens. The mat and strap resided in my closet.  I looked at the items thinking ‘I’ll be back’.

During my Cardio Fit class, I discovered my flexibility and balance both fell in the severely lacking column. My old studio shut down a long time ago, but I discovered a new one near my home.  Now I will enter the sweaty world of hot yoga.  They even have hot hatha.  My goals are simple:

1. Do a forward bend and almost touch my toes.  (Right now I am not even close.)
2. Do a balance pose, like tree pose, without falling a part faster than a lumberjack can say ‘TIMBER!’
3. Find a consistent time twice a week

I heard the warnings about overdoing a pose and forward bending in room temperature definitely showed me the limit.   People sometimes mistake my caution for underconfidence.  I admit to holding back in running, but this body can’t go any faster.  I need to go the long haul and hot yoga also has an endurance element to it.  What I also like about yoga, hot or room temperature, involves its philosophy of not judging or competing.  Nobody needs to attend a class to outstretch another person, or look the cutest in Lululemon.  It’s a matter of showing, breathing, and listening to the body.

My body pretty much said, “Well, it’s going to get hot this summer why not prep by doing hot yoga classes.”

“Alright,” I replied.

“I know the Lululemon pants supposedly  makes the bum look good,” said my body “however the ass and I had a conversation and it feels fine in Joe Fresh.”

“I agree. Plus it’s going to get sweaty all the same and as long as everyone feels comfortable then things should go well.”

“Don’t over do it,” cautioned the body.

Tonight we get to see what happens.