Yeah, I know, this site's on hiatus and all that but I really do have something relevant to share.
Did something called Bikram Yoga today. 90 minutes in a 105 degree room with relative humidity at or about 40%.
Yikes.
I'm 44 and while not out of shape by any means, not so much your super flexible yoga goddess either.
There were moments when I thought I'd pass out. There were moments when I thought all that stuff I've got would just come pouring out of me in this incredible torrent. There were moments when I just could not believe what it felt like to just lay there and breathe. There were moments when I surprised myself and stepped back up into it again.
And then there was the moment when I tried to get my pants back on.
Pause.
We're in the changing room and it's full of half or totally naked women who have just sweat out sixteen tons of water and what have you. I think I have toweled off and I try to pull on a pair of jeans that are too big for me. I've lost about 10 pounds in the last two weeks.
I cannot get them on. There I stand in my itty bitty thong with my 44 year old ass in what I so dearly wished was a breeze and I'm fucking stuck! Halfway up the thighs.
I look desperately at my WORK friend and make whimpering sounds. She is sympathetic but working out her own modesty (I have 14 years on her for God's sake). The woman next to me says, yeah, I never get how people try to put jeans on after this, it's like when we were little kids after swimming trying to pull our pants back up.
I wondered how I was going to get home.
Lets just say they did finally and I did and next week I'll bring something else to change into.
Bikram Yoga, highly recommend it. Seriously. Not just for laughs anymore.
That is fucking hilarious! I can't stop snorking.
And I absolutely love yoga. I'm truly very crappy at it, but I love it. The very first time I tried it in earnest, I told a friend it was like wrestling with yourself, and losing. And it feels incredible.
I just looked up Bikram. I LOVE the idea of doing yoga in all that heat and humidity. It sounds delicious (must be my inner spirit bear); I actually heard my skin sigh longingly when I read that.
I'm glad you're doing this thing. Yoga is so much more than just exercise.
Posted by: Annette | January 10, 2009 at 10:43 PM
Bikram is awesome, but don't overdo it or you'll get burned out on it. I did it six days a week for 10 weeks (the Bikram Challenge). Ended up with great skin, the girly equivalent of six-pack abs and little desire to ever do yoga again.
Posted by: Kitt | January 11, 2009 at 12:42 AM
Annette - it was the heat that appealed to me as well although I would have gone anyway. I'll just try to avoid the pants issue next time.
Kitt - yeah, I'm thinking Saturdays and maybe a Thursday if I can bring myself to spend that much time in the evening after work. I have plenty of challenge at the moment, this will do!
Posted by: Alecto | January 11, 2009 at 07:11 AM
Let that be a lesson to you, Alecto. Remember to wear sweats.
Posted by: Spartacus | January 11, 2009 at 02:39 PM
Spartacus - to hell with sweats! I'm bringing a mu-mu! (OK, I don't actually own a mu-mu but I'm betting I can russle one up pretty quick!
Posted by: Alecto | January 11, 2009 at 06:03 PM
You are all studs. Cannot do Yoga at all. Find it just too difficult and pretzel like - not having part of my left leg is also an issue (just sayin'). My husband is amazing at it and does it every day. Love the Yoga Body though. Never thought about the jeans after sweating so much. I guess that is why people wear those Yoga pants? They are cute and comfy.
Posted by: amy | January 11, 2009 at 09:12 PM
ha! I'm hardly graceful! But I loved it a lot.
Posted by: Alecto | January 11, 2009 at 09:31 PM
Gee, that sounds kinda like building houses in Cielo in June, or October.
I'm just trying to get motivated enough to try "Yoga for Dummies" or something like that. Looking to you for inspiration, girlfriend.
As to the visual imagery regarding the jeans, thong, etc.....better you than me is all I got to say.
Posted by: Cielo | January 15, 2009 at 07:08 PM
The post is really informative. There is one type of yoga known as Bikram yoga. It is regarded as most intensive. This kind of yoga involves 26 different postures and 2 peathing exercises in 90 minutes. The exceptionality of Bikram yoga is that it is practiced in extreme heat.
Posted by: Bikram yoga | June 30, 2009 at 05:36 AM