Hot & Humid

Sunday afternoon, I got a text from my sister, Maggie asking if I wanted to go to a free yoga class. This new yoga studio was offering a free class for Running Central, where Maggie works, and a lot of people were backing out at the last minute and she needed bodies. I said sure, its been months since I did any form of a work out and thought a yoga class would be a nice jumping off point.

We picked up a few other girls along the way and talk about different kinds of yoga. Maggie had done a hot (Bikram) class with our sister, Elisabeth, and talked about how awful it was. Low and behold, we show up to the studio and we discover its going to be Hot, Humid Yoga! The terror and trepidation run through us. Maggie had described it as hell and said she felt sick afterward.

The instructor kept the room at 96 degrees with 40% humidity. We were dying before we started; you start sweating almost as soon as you are in the room. At one point I had to stop and lay on my back because I was getting light headed. It was a lot harder doing the moves because I am so out of shape and I get competitive and don't want to look like I don't know what I'm doing.

Afterward, heading home I felt queasy and nauseated but that went away once I ate dinner and I was very lethargic. Now, a few days later my arms are so sore and my hamstrings when I bend, fold or stretch them. But the arms are crazy sore.

Overall, it was good, I had forgotten my shin's could sweat. I'm not sure I would try it again, but I've heard the side effects die off the more you practice Bikram but I'm pretty sure the instructor went easy on the heat, humidity and class level. Maybe I just need to practice at home and get better at some of the moves. Smooth transitions are hard for me.

It was definitely something I had wanted to try and now I have, cross that off the ol' bucket list!