Namaste!

Last week I tried to pull myself out of my two weeks of laziness with some weekly goals, so how did I do?

7/1 - 7/7
- Run 3 times, any distance, 1 speed workout: B-
- Arms & abs twice: D+

On Monday I sucked it up and ran 2 miles in 90 degrees.  I completed another super hot 2.25 mile run down at Cape May while we were on a nice 5 day vacation.  I didn't do any speedwork, unless you can count a few sprints through the yard to exercise the pup.  I did some brief arm and abs one day, but nothing to write home about.  Meh, I didn't crush my goals, but something is always better than nothing!  And now that we're back from vacation I'm starting things off on the right foot!  Dave and I running a 5K tomorrow night!  And after realizing I needed to activate my yoga/zumba Groupon for CoreFit by Wednesday or it would expire, I decided to attend my first hot yoga class last night!  I'd done some yoga in my living room before and I once attended a yoga class at the YMCA (that my sister told me didn't count as a real yoga class), but I'd never really been to a real yoga class and I'd certainly never done hot yoga!

Why practice Yoga in a heated room?  (source)

• Heat is used in Bikram and Hot Yoga in order to allow you to go deeper and safer into a Yoga Pose.
• Your body becomes more flexible in the heat and since most poses used in Bikram are physically challenging, heat allows you to get into a pose that you never imagined you can do.
• It also eliminates the risk of injuries, promotes sweating, and helps you release the toxins in your body.
• The Bikram Yoga Poses not only work on your muscles but also on your internal organs.
• Each pose stretches and strengthens your muscles, joints, and ligaments and, at the same time release the toxins and work on your internal organs like the glands and the nervous system.

When I arrived nice and early, there were a few other women activating their Groupons, so I wasn't the only newbie to the class.  I filled out some brief paperwork while the previous kettlebell class was wrapping up... and then they turned on the heaters.  Dun dun dun!  I picked a spot, rolled my mat out, and soon the room was uncomfortably hot.  I started sweating just sitting there, and I started to wonder what I had gotten myself into.

Surprisingly my body quickly adjusted to the heat and it actually didn't feel that bad.  The room filled up with a bunch of women and two men, the lights were dimmed, and I was pumped when the class started to one of my faves, Better Together by Jack Johnson.  We went through most of the standard bikram poses, holding each for 60 seconds and then for another 30.  I was familiar with some of the poses and others were brand spanking new to me.  The instructor was very engaging.  She demonstrated the pose in the beginning and kept reminding us to breathe and how to find proper body position throughout.  She spent some time walking around correcting or helping people and praising others.  The room was full of various skill levels and it was a very relaxed atmosphere.  I fell out of some of the poses but so did a bunch of people and it wasn't a big deal.

I'm not sure exactly what I thought about yoga before, I knew it could be great for flexibility and relaxing, but I'm not sure I really ever thought of it as a workout.  Well, hello burning muscles!  I was shaking so hard in some of the poses and I definitely felt the burn.  I was soaked in sweat when I left and the 80 degree temp outside never felt so good.  I woke up this morning feeling sore in muscles I didn't even know I had!

I was pretty nervous going into this experience.  I wasn't sure how strict the atmosphere was going to be, if I was going to feel horribly out of place, if I was going to feel lighted headed and nauseous, etc.  But I'm so glad I went!  All of my worries were eased, I didn't feel like I was going to pass out, and I got a great workout!

Are you a fan of yoga?