Bikram Yoga

Today I went to yoga again after a far too long hiatus. It kicked my butt, I just got out of the shower and I am heading to bed even though it is only 8:45. It also felt great! Seriously you walk out of the studio on a natural high. Today the high took a little longer to come because I was a little shaky, but after 2L of water with a couple of electrolyte packets in it, I felt fantastic.

The 110 degree studio for 90 minutes of yoga is a bit intimidating - it took me weeks (possibly months) to work up the nerve to even try it. Now, I actually think it is a fantastic beginner yoga because it is just a set series of 26 poses in the same order every time. You do each pose twice. The other thing that I really like (surprisingly) is the heat - and I am not a summertime person. The difference in my flexibility in that hot room than at other times is remarkable. It keeps all of your muscles warm enough to really get a great stretch.

My general strategy is to pick one standing pose each time to really work and push at and the other poses I just try to do at a comfortable place. Since it had been so long since last time, this time was more difficult and I pushed myself too hard on all the standing poses, so I ended up having to sit and rest on the second set of several poses.

Generally I get voraciously hungry a few hours after yoga - I am hoping to avoid all that by just going to bed - and I really hope I don't have to use my 1800 day tomorrow.