Tonight I did it! I actually went to hot yoga and I really liked it. Love is a very strong word, so I’ll refrain, but it definitely hit the enjoyment meter. Who knew??
It really shouldn’t be that hard to commit to an hour long class, but since my last blog on yoga, I hadn’t made the time. Yesterday I did a longish run and was tight as usual today, so I went for it.
I wanted to try a new studio that had been recommended by friends, so it required researching class times, driving 2.5 miles, and arriving early (so hard for me!) to sign up. I have to laugh at the 2.5 miles part – living in Seattle totally spoils you to the proximity of cool stuff. There is a yoga class about half a mile from my house that I have been to a few times, but it is a bit too woo-woo for me (it involved a banging drum last time I went). But for some reason, driving the 2.5 miles to the neighboring Greenlake neighborhood seemed so far. It’s funny – and ridiculous – really – I regularly commute 1.5 hours each day to work (not that many miles either, but so much traffic), but I’m daunted about driving a few miles to do something for my health and enjoyment.
But not today! I drove there! I was 15 minutes early! I signed up! I was killing it!
Until I opened the door to the class area and nearly passed out. It was like New Orleans in July. SO HOT! The air was stifling. And the room was full already. For real? I thought it would largely be empty because the Oscars had just started. Who does yoga when the Oscars are on? Die-hard’s that’s who. And me.
So I found a place to set up my mat as everyone laid still like a corpse around me. It’s actually kind of creepy. So I laid down too. Like a corpse. Who was sweating to death and we hadn’t even started yet.
And then the instructor got us going. I really tried to focus. Choose an intention (I’ll share it – it was simply “Relax”) and tried to focus on Relaxing and not thinking.
I was able to do the bulk of the poses, only (nearly) fell over once, and eventually stopped caring that I was sweating buckets. Everyone was. And then I remembered you aren’t supposed to compare yourself to others in the class. So I really tried hard not to look around. Which was just as well. Because I really am not good at yoga comparatively AND I was dressed all wrong. I wore black pants and a yellow sports bra/top amidst a sea of black and grey. My yellow top looked like a sun rising amidst dark clouds.
But anyway.
I considered it a hugely successful class. I focused and <sort of> relaxed. I stretched some very tight leg muscles and hip flexors. I actually did feel much more flexible by the end of the class. I didn’t look at my watch once. And I look forward to going back.
If you can win a yoga class, I think I did it today. For me anyway.
Namaste.
The Redefining 