21.1.11

Jumping Into the Deep End... And Liking It

I am not a huge risk taker. In fact, I am a huge big baby when it comes to things that scare me, for example, I hate no knowing how deep water is, and thus I will not jump into water if I don't know the depth... It made for an interesting "first time snorkeling" experience.
Anyways, last night I took a dive into the deep end of yoga- nice analogy, right? I went to my first Bikram yoga session. According to my brother this is, "the worst, hottest, craziest yoga" that I could ever go to and now I am considered "crazy". I went, and I was scared and it was hot, but you know what? I LOVED IT! YAY! This is a huge big deal mostly because I think I expected it to be really horrible, like deathly horrible but it wasn't. Kudos to my imagination for being so good at worst case scenarios :) There were a few times where I took a little break on my mat after doing the first series of a pose, but I did every single one once. I am super proud of myself, kind of in the way that I was proud of myself for getting through childbirth, no really, it's that same kind of euphoric, wow I can do that sort of feeling. There was quite a bit learned last night, not just in the physical poses and contorting my body into ridiculous positions, but in the "self talk" arena. Overall it was pretty positive, there were a few times where I caught myself thinking "what in the world, yeah right" and I'd lose my balance, but then I'd just refocus and breathe and voila, done. It was pretty awesome. A word about the heat. I am not one to sit in a sauna/steam room for very long, the thick air gets to me. I don't know if my vacation helped me in this area or not, but the heat in Bikram wasn't as thick as I expected- partially because the class wasn't as packed as it could have been. I will say I didn't particularly enjoy the floor being so hot to step on in certain poses, but I got used to it. And the sweat... Oh boy... I don't think I have ever in my life sweat like that, it felt like the first time every pore of my body was working. That being said, it felt amazing, and it wasn't gross I just ran a marathon sweat, it was definitely a cleansing feeling, I don't know how to explain it. So all that being said, I will be going again and I'll probably write more about it in future posts, and I might be crazy for liking it, but Bikram seems to be just what I need right now.

3 comments:

The Staheli's said...

I've never heard of this! I need to do some research, but it sounds intense. I've liked yoga and REALLY DISLIKED yoga...Since I'm not a fan of sauna's I'm not sure I would enjoy this. BUT, I'm so glad it was such a positive experience for you! :) Love that feeling...

Sheri said...

I'm so glad you loved it......there is something about being away from the kids and challenging yourself that is just so good for the soul.
I hope you become "addicted" so I can give you a hard time too ;)

Lyndi said...

It sounds so great and makes me want to try it. I used to do just a regular yoga class before I was married and loved it. Emily just started doing a hot yoga class this past month and was saying how great it is. I need to get on the hot yoga train!