So this year, all year, not just since the revelation of my last blog, I have been making an effort to exercise regularly… and while the last couple of weeks have been a little poor, on the whole I think I am doing pretty well.  Earlier this year I tried yoga for the first time, this was something that I had put on my list (no. 28) because I thought it was about time I gave it a go… well actually I put either yoga or Pilates on the list, and I was secretly hoping for Pilates because I thought that might have been easier, but when I had an offer to attend a yoga class, it was one I couldn’t refuse.

To be honest, one of the reasons I hadn’t attempted yoga in the past was because I was a little afraid of it, I had put it in the spiritual basket of crystals and energies, some thing I wasn’t sure if the rules I had made for myself regarding my own spirituality.  I had it tangled up, and probably fairly so in the traditional view of yoga, one which is deeply embedded in religions which are not my own.  I have learnt however that modern yoga is not this… its an adaption, there are certainly elements that still reflect this deeper connection with inner self and spirituality as other wise you would just be standing in a room pulling strange stances with a group of strangers, but it is only as deep as you allow it to be, you choose the meditation, you choose the focus of your thoughts… or lack there of and attempt to reach the peaceful state it strives for.

As I don’t often do things by halves, rather than just attempting regular run of mill yoga at the local gym, I found myself signing up for a Bikram Yoga class… that’s the yoga you do in a 40degree room with a humidity of 40%… it’s hot and sweaty and intense, it was an interesting experience, not one that I think I would run back to… I think I might need to try just regular yoga first, but I was glad I did it and it crossed it off the list… but here are 3 things I learnt at my yoga experience…

1.       If you have a cold… don’t to bikram yoga… in fact don’t do any yoga with others!  During my class there was a man in the row behind me who brought his own tissues with him… that’s not cool.  You are in a hot room with lots and lots of other people… breathing the same thick air and sharing a confined, contained space… I don’t want your germs… so please don’t come.

2.       I am too fat for yoga… My friends of course say this isn’t true… apparently I am just not that flexible yet… but I know they are just being kind… there were a number of poses which I found impossible… while my flexibility was an issue… sometimes there was just thigh or boobs in the way… there is nothing you can do about that once the yoga class has started… although hopefully all the sweating I did will have shifted that weight in the right direction, even if it is just dehydration.

3.       Bikram yoga makes you sweat in places you didn’t know you could sweat… that’s probably a little too much information I know, but it is true… at one stage we were lying on the floor (on our own towels and mats) and when I lifted my head there was a decent sized puddle left on the floor from my ear… seriously my ear… gross… bring a change of everything!

So there you go… yoga is done… maybe I will try it again… but maybe just regular normal temperature yoga where you can breathe and your other class mates will be encouraged to wear more than just the necessities for the class.