Some Like it Hot!

And when I say hot, I mean HOT!

On Monday evening I attended my first hot yoga class at the brand new Moksha Yoga studio here in Burlington. As an opening special all classes are free this week. Gerald (my yoga instructor - normal temperature...the room that is, not sure if he is normal temperatured or not) is now teaching at Moksha, so I thought I would try out a class. And as I was feeling particularly brave, I went, alone.

By the time I arrived at Moksha, a whooping 5 minute drive from my house I was incredibly nervous. I walked in very apprehensive. I approached the desk where two cute yogi girls were chatting and said "um, hi, I'm here for the class" and then blurted "and I'm really nervous". They both laughed, you know the sympathetic, "don't be silly" laugh. One of these girls happened to be Erin, the instructor, and because I was early (on the advice of a friend to acclimatize to the heat before the class started), I was given a tour of the venue, met the owner, learned about the edible cleaner used for disinfecting the room after every class, and started to relax.

I changed into my hot yoga gear (aka tank top and shorts) and started to set up my mat, at the back of the room of course. I had brought a beach towel per the instructions on the website, so after setting up my mat I waited, wondering what to do with the towel. I didn't have to wait long before other students arrived. They were obviously much more versed in hot yoga, set up their mats, laid their towels over top of their mats and laid down into savasana. So I followed suit. And waited.

Finally the class start, there were more than 60 people in the room when I opened my eyes. The class started with a welcome and a warning, if you ever feel overwhelmed by the heat, please lie down. At this point, as I do, I was looking around the room and thinking, man, I am the biggest person here. Boo urns.

We are working through the standing poses and as we get into the Warrior series I hear this weird whooshing noise and I look at the girl next to me trying to figure out why her breathing just went all Darth Vader like, then realized it wasn't her...it was in my ears! I glanced around the room, saw that no one else was having any issues and thought, man, I am the biggest person here AND the only one who has to sit it out a minute. The room started to spin a little so I quickly laid down resolving the I REALLY didn't want to be the one who passed out!

I made it through the rest of the class, sweating more in that hour that I think I have in my entire life. It was unbelievable from the forward bend watching the sweat drip from my nose onto my towel to a completely soaked shirt. I still can't get over it.

And I LOVED it!

It's taken me so long to finish this post that I have actually been to 3 more classes at Moksha Burlington and am participating in their Energy Exchange Program, which I work there for a few hours a week and I can attend classes for free. Yah!

I guess I like it hot.