I figured it out!!!

Ok, so my text teacher for journalism in college said that you only get to use two exclaimation points in your career as a journalist (thank God that is not the profession I ended up in because I love a good exclaimation point) and they should both be used when Jesus returns.

I think that this revelation deserves the attention, so follow me here. As posted a few blogs back, the temperature has been seriously cold. I am cold from the time I get up to the time I get in my new fancy bathtub at night until...

...a fellow swimmer talked me into taking a Bikram Yoga class with his at a local yoga studio. 105º F, 40% humidity in the winter for 90 minutes! Now, the first 45 minutes I thought this is great, I am warm and even sweating. The second 45 minutes I was trying not to throw up or pass out. (I don't ever want to hear any of you say that yoga is not a workout ever again.) I kept thinking, what in the H-E-double hockeysticks am I doing here but it was somewhat like an endurance event. I got home, drank a gallon of water and started to feel, well, awesome. I slept like a rock, I had minimal soreness and had a great run this afternoon. Now I am thinking, "bring it on, I can't wait until next week." Like I said, an endurance event where in the pain of the moment you swear to never do it again and then you sign up for the next event hours after you complete the first one. I know, I have been there.

So for those of you are skeptical, lets talk about what goes on in these hot yoga classes. From what I understand, Bikram is a form of hatha yoga. It is 90 minutes of twenty-some (26 maybe)poses and two breathing exercises each done twice. There is a specific dialog which is good for beginners and did I mention it is hot? I was just fine during all the standing poses it was the second half on the floor that was hard. That was when I about tossed my cookies 3 times and considered for a brief moment passing out. Looking back, if I had known what I was in for, I would have drank a lot more water during the day and I think that would have helped. I also had a pretty sweet headache by the end but that was also a dehydration issue which was solved by several glasses of water.

You may still be wondering why would anyone even do this? The benefits are that the heat helps you sweat out the yuckiness from your body, it also makes the stretch deeper without as much strain on the body. (That second part we learned in PT school, although in another form.) Plus, as the swimmer friend that convinced me to do this in the first place noted, "you are wet for 90 minutes". I mean, that seems like a good reason in itself, right? But really, I have never been so sweaty in my life. I looked like a stepped out of the swimming pool, my clothes had to be rung out, I am not kidding. Not even after an August triathlon do I lose that much fluid or electrolytes. Wow. I mean, I couldn't even hardly hold some of the poses because the sweat made it so slippery.

So if you choose to go to a class like this, take your mat, a full sized towel to put over it, a bottle of water from which you only get to drink from once (after the 3rd pose) and from which you will want to suck dry after the class, and as few clothes as you can bring yourself to wear. Prepare to be a little miserable, prepare to suffer, and prepare to be addicted because you won't be able to wait to go back for more.