Fat, Hot, and Sweaty

I love to try new ways of exercising. So far, I've walked, jogged, yoga-ed, pilates-ed, hiked, kayaked, weight lifted, danced and aerobicized. The wedding planning was pretty stressful and I've been wanting to sweat it out more than ever. I tried jogging around my 'hood for the last month and enjoyed the sweat, but got bored. Nothing reduces my anxiety more than a good, exercise induced sweat.

Well, today I think I found the ultimate sweaty exercise...Bikram Yoga! For those of you who don't know, Bikram is a hatha (physical) yoga that is performed in a 105 degree room with 50% humidity. The temperature is so high because it helps your muscles loosen and get a deeper stretch. It is a series of 26 postures, performed twice. The class lasts about 90 minutes long. If you think you would have to lie down, you're right! In fact, the instructor encourages participants to lay down if they begin to feel overexerted. The catch is you have to lay down in the hot room because going in and out of the room is not good for your muscles.

So, today I lied down... a lot. I listened to my body and when I felt ready to get up, I would try the next pose. I was worried I would be embarrassed to lie down, but nobody gave me a second glance. The instructor encourages us to tune others out and focus on ourselves. I'm going again tomorrow morning and will let you know how it went. Hopefully, 90 minutes a day of body awareness will spill into other parts of my day.

P.S. As avid readers of this blog know, I got married last weekend. It was a beautiful ceremony and I wore the dress I mentioned earlier. I accessorized with strappy champagne colored sandals and an opera length pearl necklace tripled up around my neck. I don't have pics yet, but when I do I'll post some! Thanks so much for your patience during the last month when my posting was non-existent.