Hot Yogaaahhhhhhhh

It has been several years since I have done hot yoga (Bikram yoga). I used to do it often and I loved it. It was always a great coping mechanism for me. I especially remember when Trevor broke his leg right before our wedding, I went to yoga alot to manage my emotions. I just love how it made me feel.

I haven't had the time to get back into it. During Ironman training I kept saying "when this is over, I am doing hot yoga, lots and lots of hot yoga....like 30 days of hot yoga". I thought about it all the time, during training rides and swims, during the Ironman itself and certainly during the days leading up to the Ironman when I was freaking out!

There is a new studio that opened up here in Vancouver. Trevor and I started going on Tuesday. My plan is to go for 3o days straight, get all the junk out of my system (mental and physical) and then cut it back to three days a week.

I had forgotten how challenging the Bikram yoga is. First of all, the room is heated to over 100 degrees, so you sweat your ass off just by sitting in the room. There are 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises and you would think "how easy". Not so. Your heartrate goes through the roof, you experience dizziness and nausea. Sounds great, right? But you feel SO good when you are done. I feel so cleansed. Like someone wrung me out like a wet towel. Ahh...

During our first class, I looked over at Trevor and was worried he was going to pass out. He was wearing a red shirt and his face was the color of the shirt. Mine was too. He enjoyed it and is excited to see progress in his flexibility.

Today was day 4 of my 30 days of Hot Yoga. I ran for 40 minutes this morning and then did yoga. I was worried that it would be much more difficult, it wasn't. It actually felt better.

I am hoping that this yoga will help me open up my elbow. I am still unable to straighten it out. There is one posture we do that is specifically to help with arm/elbow/wrist injuries. I look forward to the healing power of yoga making me whole again!

In the meantime, it is nice to go somewhere that everyone is sweating! Usually, its just me.