YOGA

The one-word title will suffice.  Yoga.  What is it about yoga?  My TV cabinet is crammed with yoga videos and DVDs.  Problem is, doing the same tapes over and over in your living room is.... what's that word........ oh yeah...BORING!!  Imagine my delight when a yoga studio opens up five minutes from my house.  Not just any studio.... the evolation yoga studio, featuring Bikhram yoga.  This is yoga in a hot room.  Fascinating.

So, off I trot, to the 60-minute session in an 80 degree room.  It was challenging and I was indeed warm.  Of course, I could not be satisfied with this for very long.  Oh no, not me... I decide to go for the gusto.   The HOT class.  That's right - 90 minutes in a 105 degree room.   Swell.  Tonight, about 20 minutes in, I thought I saw my life flash before my eyes.  Standing poses..... sweat pouring from every pore in my body, I was positive that I was about to throw up or pass out.   Finally the logical side of my brain took over and said  "DUMMY!!  STOP AND BREATHE!!"  So I did, and believe me, it wasn't like I was the only one. Let's see...yes, ok... grab my heel from behind with my hand twisted in an unnatural position...then pull my leg up behind me while bending forward with my other arm pointed at the sky... in(of course) the 105 degree room.  I'm supposed to be focusing on my face, and ONLY my face, in the mirror in front of me.  It's hard to miss - it's that odd, purple-colored, bulging-eyed thing on the front of my head which, for some reason, looks way too big for my body...  this must be some sort of voodoo room.

So, the upshoot of this "experience" is that the outdoor air felt so incredible when I left that I almost didn't mind that a certain husband was late picking me up.  I sat on a bench by the canal and let it waft over me.  Nirvana.   Plus, these are the only times in my life when a cold shower is actually pleasurable.  Go figure.  Now I sit and recall the class, and I am feeling calm yet energized, like I am totally in control of my destiny.  It's amazing.  After all of that, I will definitely do it again.  Maybe next time I'll make it through 90 minutes without the bobble head hallucination.