hot yoga: my new healthy addiction

I went to my first Hot Yoga class last night. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's Bikram Yoga, which has you practicing the same 26 postures in the same order, at each class....oh ya, and it's like 105 degrees in the room!

It was one of those life changing moments, I think. I've never done yoga before, other than a couple lame dvds at home, which were boring as hell and just didn't inspire me to continue. But when a friend at work starting talking about this 'hot' yoga class, I was very interested. The thought of being in a sauna-like environment, strrrrrreeetchhhhhing out your muscles, being extra limber because of the heat, sweating out all those toxins...it all just sounded like a wonderful experience and I wanted in!

I found a hot yoga class close to my house, which is amazing in itself being that I live in a town of 4,000 people and we don't have ANYTHING here, so when I found out there was an instructor who also teaches out of her home just 5 minutes from me, I was all over that like white on rice ....low glycemic basmati rice, that is. LOL

When I showed up and walked up the stairs to her bonus room where she holds her classes, I opened the door and it was like standing in front of the oven and opening it. The heat blasted out of the room right into my face and I knew from there that this was going to be an experience. I just hoped it wasn't one of those 'what did i get myself into' experiences!

She briefly explained how the class flows, some etiquette basics, and we were off. I knew it was going to be challenging, but having never done yoga, much less a hot yoga class, I never really understood how it could be considered a workout, and I was curious how many calories I'd burn and how I'd feel the next day. The first 10 minutes or so were all standing postures, and they really elevated my heart rate.....to about 175 beats per minute, which is roughly 88% my max heart rate, so YA, it was an intense period of time and I was really worried that there was no way I'd be able to endure 90 minutes of this.

Much to my delight, after we finished the standing postures, we moved on to floor postures, which were still a challenge, but with the added benefit of getting to lie flat on your back and breath/recover for a few seconds in between poses. Next thing I knew, we only had 15 minutes left to class and I couldn't believe I made it. I was so happy!

Mentally, the experience was wonderful as well. I was able to get into all but one pose, and some of these poses are HARD! So, as I stood there surrounded by mirrors and REALLY fit women who had a lot of experience with this class, I was actually really proud of myself. The most ground breaking part of the class, tho, was when I looked at myself in these mirrors and realized that yes, while I do have some weight to lose, I'm not this disgusting creature I keep thinking I am. As a matter of fact, there wasn't anything disgusting about me. All I saw in that mirror was a determined and capable young woman who was regaining control of her health and taking on new challenges to boot!

Oh ya, and I burned close to a THOUSAND calories. 990 to be exact. Just by doing yoga!! OMG!!

I came home exhausted and limber. Woke up in the morning feeling fine, albeit a bit sore, like I had been in the gym lifting weights or something. It's a good soreness, tho, and I can't freakin wait to go back!