Yoga: The Half Naked & Very, Very Sweaty Kind

I teach a form of yoga myself, so I probably shouldn’t have had such a strong prejudice towards Bikram, but I did. For those of you who don’t know, Bikram yoga is unique because the room you practice in is gradually heated from 85 to 105 degrees over the span of the class, which is usually about 90 minutes. The idea is that such intense heat cleanses the body from the inside out. So you see why I hated it from the get-go.

First of all, I hate the heat. Don't misinterpret me here - Florida is my home and I love it dearly and there's cool things to do all over the place, but my goodness if there's one thing I can do without, it's Florida's heat. So ANYWAY, I hate Florida for its summers and overall balmy temperatures, I’d run my AC at 65 year round if my bank account dictated I could, and nothing puts me in a worse mood than hot weather. Nothing (well, for the purposes of this blog, nothing).

Also, I so badly wanted to come back to everyone with a hilarious account of how terrible my first Bikram yoga class was. I wanted desperately to compare it to Dante’s Inferno and drone on and on about how torturous it was and that I’ll never ever go there again. Instead, you have to hear about what a pleasant, soothing class I had. I’m not even cranky!

I enjoyed every part of this class. The heat wasn’t that bothersome. You do sweat a lot, especially if the room is full, and in this case it was. Did I mention you sweat? Like, A LOT? Your clothes are drenched and cling to you like Saran wrap, sweat drips from your chin and those little hairs on the back of your neck. Your back looks slick and your hands are slippery and the humidity rivals any that we experience here in the south on a summer day. But, I liked it.

I think all the sweating (okay, I know that sounds absolutely disgusting, but go with me on this one!) actually helps, because you don't feel weak. Even if you aren't as flexible as your neighbor, you both look the same: Your legs are trembling, you're gritting your teeth, and you're silently swearing to yourself that you will NOT come out of this pose. You're both just as sweaty, just as unsteady on your feet, and working as hard as your limits allow you. I don't know, it felt like there was some kind of silent camaraderie in there.

I feel refreshed and I SWEAR I’d even go as far as saying I look radiant (WHOA!). It’s very likely this is all in my head, but I feel lighter and relaxed… I may even go back next week, because at the studio I went to (Yogani) you get your 2nd class free.

As a sidenote, the studio was beautiful. Very clean, very friendly, and very simple and warm. I loved it.

Now, onto more important things… lunch!