Holy Hot Yoga!

Once upon a time, Emily and I decided we could attempt hot yoga.  You should know that I am not an avid yogi and Emily had never tried yoga.  In all honesty, we were excited that we could go to 10 classes for 10 dollars.  The 105 degree temperature was a mere afterthought.  The location of the hot yoga studio is roughly 20 miles away so we headed out for our 4:30 p.m. introductory class about 45 minutes early.  It's called "Hatha" yoga and is a little bit slower, focusing on breathing, strength, and balance (okay, all yoga classes are, but focus on the "slower" part!).  As we were driving to class, we hit major traffic.  It caused us to be late for the Hatha class.  Since it had taken so long to reach our destination, we waited for the next class to start.  This class was not Hatha.  This class was called "Power".  As you may have guessed, this class is for a more advanced hot yoga student.  And if you forgot, Emily and I have never participated in hot yoga.  And so began our Power class...

After 10 minutes of the class, I debated how to tell Emily that I could no longer attend one of these crazy classes.  My entire body was completely drenched with sweat.  There was no clock in sight.  I figured that surely there would be a break soon.  No break.  Constant movement.  Moves that I couldn't remember and Emily had never heard were recited from the beginning to the end of class.  While we were continuously told "this isn't a competition and you don't need to look at anyone else", all I wanted to do was see what the heck they were doing so I could feebly attempt a similar position, as long as my slippery skin would allow it.  As a person who hardly sweats during exercise, I was quite the mess.

The one rule they have at the studio is to not leave the room.  No matter how nauseous, dizzy, or thirsty you may be, it is requested that you try to stay the whole class period.  It sounds absolutely ridiculous but the great part is that you can rest on your mat covered with a sweat soaked towel until you feel better.  You bet I took full advantage of this luxury.  After the fourth chaturanga, my body was dead.  After the eighth exchange of glares with Emily, my body was dead.  We were thinking the same things.  We had yet to find our chi.

Miraculously, I heard the word "final stretch".  I whispered to Emily to double check that I heard correctly.  Anything "final" I could handle.  I had never been more thrilled to hear the word "Namaste" in my entire life.  As we dizzily walked out of class, we sat outside with the cool breeze.  My clothes soaked.  My hair disgusting.  My eyes bloodshot.  Emily and I could hardly come to terms with what we just experienced.  I don't think I could form sentences.  After several minutes of analyzing our past hour, we decided we would come back tomorrow for Hatha yoga.  Surely it would be better.  Right?

The next day we were ready for something less intense.  We hoped Hatha would be that something.  Since we were stuck in traffic the day before, we gave ourselves an hour to get to the 4:30 p.m. class since we were not interested in another Power class.  On our way, Emily looked at the Hot Yoga schedule which we left in the car.  Apparently, this studio likes to rotate classes and they are not always at the same time in the afternoons.  What class was at 4:30 p.m., you ask?  Power.  Power yoga had switched on us and we were en route for another hour of hell.  Sure enough, there was more traffic and we arrived a minute late.  It didn't take long to realize we should just hang out for another hour so we could go to the Hatha class.  In the meantime, we thought it would be best to run to the bathroom and we each grabbed a donut to eat while we waited.  Don't worry...we didn't eat the full donut...we did have a yoga class to attend!  Gosh.

Hatha was a breath of fresh air (except, that's not the right phrase...since it was so darn hot).  It was a slower class.  The teacher was great.  The moves were manageable.  The energy was much better.  This was our kind of class.  We have already attended two Hatha classes and they are much safer to start with than Power.  Can't say we didn't try, though.

Namaste.

image via Pinterest

        Best, 

               Anne