My Yoga Journey

Yoga was something I'd always wanted to "get into," but honestly, I was a little scared to get started. I don't know why it seemed so daunting.  Oh wait. Yes I do.  Doing anything in a hot, humid place without sand in my toes, a cold drink in my hand, and a large body of water nearby to plunge into when the heat becomes unbearable seems flat out hellish. But then you admire the physique of a dedicated yogi and wonder how long it will take to morph into a lean, mean yoga machine. 

Like I said in my previous post, when I found Dayme's in Midlothian and realized what a great deal it was and recruited a willing partner, I really didn't have any excuse not to give it a go.  I'm now 12 classes in, and I'm hooked.  Joe is even going and loving it (and he's actually pretty good, too!). 

If you are considering giving hot power yoga a go, here's my humble advice:

- Don't eat anything heavy less than 2 hours prior to the class.  I've not tried it, but I've heard pukage results. I want to avoid pukage at all costs. I usually have an apple finished about 1.5 hours before I go. I don't want to be totally drained.

-Wear as little clothing as you're comfortable wearing.   The studio will be anywhere from 85-95 degrees and high humidity. You will sweat profusely. Maybe one day I'll have abs of steel and work my way into a sports bra and shorty shorts, but for now a yoga tank (from Walmart) and capri tights (from Target) will do the trick.  Eventually, I'll invest in some Lululemon gear. Le sigh.

That's me, middle-right, in the black racer back!

Things to bring:

-Ice water. The ice will likely be completely melted by the time class is over. A non-sweating container works well.

-A hand towel. You will need it to wipe the sweat out of your eyes, nose, and other places you didn't know excreted sweat.  Did you know your shins sweat?!

- A mat towel.  I recommend a YogiToes non-skid towel.  I love mine, and I want one in every color. Order it from Amazon. They retail for $64, but you can get them for less than $50 if you shop around. If you don't want to spend any money until you're convinced yoga is for you, take a beach towel and spritz it down with water to keep it from slipping too much.

- A yoga mat.  The studio I attend has a set anyone can use, so if you just want to give it a go before you commit, just check with the studio and see if they have mats.

- An open mind. You will learn a lot in one class, and if you thought yoga was easy, you will learn otherwise. Don't be afraid to take a break. There have been several times when I had to pause because I was light-headed, or fatigued. The great thing about yoga is there's no judgement for moving at your own pace. I like that a lot.

Shavasana. The part of class I look forward to most!

After class:

I was sore after the first 3 or 4 classes. My soreness was mainly in my shoulders, but going back to class within a day or two helped.

You will actually look forward to going back and sweating buckets.

The only annoying thing about going to hot yoga is having to do more laundry and having to wash my hair after every class. Hello, deep conditioning treatments!

The results (so far):
After 12 classes over the last 3 weeks my skin is softer (my skin is normally very dry), my arms are a little less flabby, I feel less bloated, my 2nd chin is retreating, and generally, I feel stronger.  I've also lost about 3-4 lbs, granted I am running 3 days a week and watching what I eat, too.