Hot Yoga....

Today was my first hot yoga class. What is hot yoga you ask? It a room where women pay to stretch in a 40 degrees Celsius room. Now since I am an expert of converting to Fahrenheit, (kudos to the link on my email), it is a room that is over 100 degrees (Fahrenheit). Well today I was a lucky winner and went with my friend Arla, where the room was 122 degrees today!! Yikes, and of course like all information that would have been useful to know, we saw the thermostat after the 90minute session was over. My poor friend Hillary decided to take the mat next to the heater today, bad idea. Her face was so red, I felt really bad for her.

Hot Yoga is composed of 26 different positions that are repeated twice in a ridiculously hot room. The first 30 minutes, I was thinking, "Hmmm.....this is nice. You get to stretch in a room that feels so warm." Being an athlete for many years has taken a toll on my ability to be flexible.

As we were approaching 60 minutes I was beginning to think that there are a lot more sweaty spots on a human body than I thought. Koreans usually are pretty sweat-free. It was nice to see that they sweat too just like the rest of us, except it has to be above 100 for them to even glisten a bit. By this point I was praying for a cool down and a large Gatorade!!

With 10 minutes to go I got a foot cramp, which happens often to me after a work out. It just so happens that we were in a position that I could hold because it was making my foot cramp up. The instructor came over to me with her hands on her hips. I pointed to my foot and she made me roll over on my stomach and then proceed to massage my foot by standing on my foot and using the ball of her foot the rub it out. Did you follow that? Either way it hurt like noting I ever felt and I had to nudge her off of me. Korean women are small but vicious!!

This is kind of what it look like: except picture a Korean woman and she is stepping on my feet.

Ok, this looks nothing like what happened, but I think this picture is hilarious. You can't pass up an opportunity to post a good photo find.

See how sweet this gal looks up close, kind of like my instructor:



Then take a few steps back and all of a sudden she looks like she could snap you with her fingers!!



By the end of class I was so sweaty I didn't even feel clean after I showered. I got my Gatorade and made my way home to sit on the couch until the feeling of pain left my foot. All in all, not a horrible experience, but I don't think I'm a 3 times a week hot yoga gal. I'm just not ready to make that type of hard core - the ying - and the yang - stretch my body in ways that cause more pain commitment. I will be perfectly fine with the elliptical machine. It's safe and it doesn't want to step on my feet.