Remember a few months ago I told you that Kyle and I had started doing hot yoga? And I told you that I was going to tell you all about it and then I did what I do too often, which is
NOT tell you about it because I'm a lousy blogger?
Well, guess what?
I'm going to tell you about it.
Today.
I know. You're shocked out of your minds!
I'm telling you about it today for a couple of reasons.
1. It's a cold, crisp, Fall day and I wish I could be in that room, just to lay down and take a nap because it's
HOT in there and it would just feel oh so good right about now.
2. I need to lose weight. I've been saying that for a long time but I seriously do. And if I was doing hot yoga today, at least I would feel like I was at least attempting to lose it by sweating some of it off.
First of all, how did Kyle and I even get started doing hot yoga?
Well, there was a Living Social deal that came up one day a few months ago. It was 20 sessions for $20. The day that it came up, I happened to be spending part of the day with one of my BFF's. I told her about the deal and how I was thinking about doing it. She told me that she'd done it before {and if I remember, she amended that statement to saying she did it
ONE TIME} and that she'd heard it was a great way to lose weight because you just sweat it off. Well, being that I'll take any help in losing the weight that I can, I jumped on it right then and there in her kitchen. She didn't need to say anything else. But I could only buy one on my account so later when I got home, I signed Kyle up and bought one for him too.
Oh, you're wondering if this is something Kyle would even
WANT to do?
In the past, I would've thought no way in
HELL would my husband do hot yoga!
HOWEVER, as unbelievable as it seems, especially if you know my Macho Man of a hub, Kyle had been getting up at 5:30 in the morning for several weeks to do yoga on his own downstairs. He wanted me to do it with him but there was no way I was getting up that early in the morning when I didn't have to! I like my sleep thankyouverymuch!
I told Kyle what I did sometime during the day and he didn't object.
I also told my SIL about this deal and her and her hub also bought it.
They happened to try it out the very next day.
I tried it out a couple days later {and Kyle the next week or so}.
Since Heidi and Chad tried it out first, I told her to give me the lowdown so I'd know what to expect.
She said to bring a yoga mat, towel and water. I asked her what we should wear. She said that there were people there in their bikinis! Yeah, so not happening. Heidi wore capris, a sports bra and a shirt over that. That was pretty much what I had intended to wear. Chad wore shorts and a t-shirt. Cool. Kyle would be good to go as well.
When we got there on that first day we signed in at the front desk. Then we put all of our belongings in the little cubbies they had in the front, including our shoes. Totally grossed me out having to walk around with no shoes on, but that was the rules.
After the room cleared out from the previous session, we moved on in and set up our little "station" at the back of the class, near the door. There's no talking in the class so we laid out our mats and towels and laid on our backs with our feet towards the back wall.
{Apparently that's the correct yoga etiquette.} Oh, did I forget to mention that Heidi forgot to tell me I should bring a FULL size towel and I had only brought a HAND towel? Yeah, I felt like an dork with my little towel. LOL
Pretty soon the instructor came in and she started calling out names to see who was who. The class was pretty full but Heidi said that it was
PACKED the night before since it was the first day after people had purchased the deal.
As the class got going the instructor saw my little towel and she went and got me a full sized one that they normally rent for $2 each. I guess she felt sorry for me. But let me tell you, that full sized towel was
MUCH needed!
Each session begins with a set of breathing techniques. I'm thinking, alright. This is kind of hard but I can do it. You're basically supposed to fill your lungs with air completely and then let it out slowly and completely. It's not easy! And you're already sweating by this time.
I suppose I should probably tell you that the room is 105 degrees with 60% humidity. Yeah.
HOT. And you do this for 90 minutes! Shoot me now!
I should probably also tell you that I don't like to sweat normally. However, I'm ok with it when I'm exercising. Cuz that's what you're supposed to do, right?!
Anywho, so we're starting with the breathing. It's doable. I'm breathing. I'm sweating. I don't want to pass out yet. Good.
We move onto more poses. Each pose is done two times.
Here are the poses. They're posted above the mirrors in the "Hot Room" so you can see
how much further you have to go which pose is next.
I started going to this yoga class shortly after my
car accident so there were some poses that I just didn't want to push myself on, for instance, the one where you bend all the way back. I tried going back a little and it made me dizzy and nauseous doing that so I would just bend back a little bit after that.
So the first couple of poses are fairly easy. Bend your body back and forth. Bend back, back, back. Fold yourself in half with your head touching your knees
{YEAH RIGHT!}. But then it just gets crazy. Sit yourself in a chair pose and balance. Uhhh...by this time my body was just shaking! And I was slightly nauseous. Good luck standing on your
TOES and balancing yourself while sitting like you're a chair! Then you're supposed to make yourself stand like an eagle. It's doable but I was so dripping wet with sweat by this time that it was almost impossible to grab my elbows / arms! All this time, I was watching myself in the mirror. I was looking around to see if I was the only one that wasn't able to do these poses. I was thinking to myself that it's a good thing I wasn't the only one that looked like a complete idiot.
However, I was also looking at all of these experienced yogis and wondering how the hell they can
BEND THAT WAY!!
I've got pretty good balance, or so I thought. When we were supposed to balance ourselves standing up, but bent over flat so we look like a 'T'? I came to realize how
NOT good at balancing I am!
While I was able to keep up with a lot of this, there were times where I just had to kneel down on my mat or lay on my back for a few minutes. There were a few poses that I just could
NOT do. And these were just the poses standing up!
After we molded ourselves into a "Tree" {which I could
NOT do, but Kyle could. Whodathunkit?!}, we moved to the floor poses.
Some of these made me more nauseous than the standing poses!
After each pose, we had to turn to our back and lay there for 20 seconds. I'm telling you, that was almost harder than doing the poses! Having to lay down then get back up then lay down and get back up over and over!
By this time, the towel on my mat is soaked! I'm dripping sweat from places I didn't know
COULD sweat, like my shins for instance! One day, while I was bent over and upside down, I looked over and saw a guy that's shorts were so wet with sweat they were dripping from the bottom of the shorts legs! There's a reason why people wear as little as possible! Although, there are the people that are wearing barely anything that you wish would put just a little something more on because, really, I don't want to be starring at your bare ass cheek for 90 minutes!
About an hour in, I was starting to really pay attention to those poses that are at the top of the wall to see how many more poses I was going to have to suffer through. It's
SO DAMN HOT in there that, honestly, I could've laid down and died right then and there! I don't remember how many classes in I was, but there was one day in particular where I had to
GET OUT OF THERE! NOW! I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to pass out. I went in the bathroom and I was already soaking wet so it didn't matter what I did, I went to the sink and starting splashing water all over myself. On my face, on my head, on my chest and back and arms. I
HAD to cool myself down
ASAP!! Sweet Relief!
It makes a
HUGE difference in what you've had to eat and drink on the days that you do hot yoga! They recommend that you not eat 3-4 hours prior to class and that you drink tons of water during the day. I'm really bad about drinking water so on the days that we were going to go, I'd try to get water in me but more often then not, a couple of hours before we went I'd be downing water as fast as I could. As our sessions were coming to an end, I did end up finding
these drinks that really seemed to help both Kyle and me. They were kind of gross tasting but if I bought them ahead of time and was able to freeze them for a bit it helped with the taste.
We didn't end up using all 20 of our sessions because we just ran out of time
{we had to use them within 60 days of the first day we went}. Even though I thought I was going to
DIE some days, it honestly was a great workout! It was something that Kyle and I could both do together and I think if we had continued to do it we would've gotten into great shape! Unless we find another deal, we won't be going back though. For both of us to continue going it would be about $1000 a year, which we just don't have!
So, there ya have it! My experience with Hot Yoga! I didn't die, but I wanted to! It's definitely not for the faint of heart, so be warned! A great, but torturous experience!
 |
I look like a complete FREAK but HELLO! I made it through!!
This was after my first class. |
Bikram Method Hatha Yoga is a sequence of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises practiced in a heated room. It is specifically designed to work the entire body, using heat to stretch deeper, prevent injury and flush unwanted toxins. This yoga series stimulates the organs, glands and nerves and systematically moves fresh oxygenated blood to 100% of the body restoring health to all systems. Benefits of a regular practice include weight loss, improved muscle tone, stress relief, increased energy and an overall sense of physical and mental well-being.
