Friday, January 7, 2011

Quick yoga update

I've developed a fondness for my new meditative/exercise practice... And my girlfriends and I made it out regular Thursday night girl's night get-together, so it became a regular routine in my life. Due to sickness and the holidays, I didn't go for a few weeks. This past Thursday I decided it's time to get back into the routine called life. So at the normal time, we (there are two new teachers at my school so Lia came with me) set out for hot yoga.

Now I know there are other forms of "hot" classes, such as walking (some hot yoga + walking cardio) and dumbbell (hot yoga  + weight training) but I go at the normal time for the regular hot yoga. Or so I thought...

Lia and I get changed and go in the room a little early and just stretch and chat... normal. The leader comes in, greets everyone (again, normal). Everyone stands up and gets ready (still normal). Then the leader says something, the whole room looks at us (the only two waygookins, foreigners, in the room). Leader says some more then one of the hard core women I've seen before in classes comes over to us to translate.

Super Yogic: "This is flow yoga. Much more harder than hot yoga." Hmmm... ok...
[Our eyes get big]
[All the Koreans laugh at us]
Leader: "It's ok. Try it."
Waygookins (us): "Ok"

I'm not sure if you'll really be able to wrap your mind around what this class really was. And keep in mind, some people can't handle regular hot yoga. This class was a SIMULTANEOUS cardio, ab, floor/leg, arm workout all combined (hence the SIMULTANEOUS in all caps...). Understand? No? Let me just try to explain it... If you understand the extreme-ness of what I've just explained, skip the next paragraph.

Every sequence begins with a basic touch-your-toes stretch. Keep stretching and lift your head up. Back down. Then it moves into a plank (for those of you who don't know what a plan is, you basically hold the push-up position - but be sure to keep your back and butt flat. Try it. I dare you.) Hold. Down on the floor and into cobra (whole body laying face down on the floor and flex your arms and bring your upper body up) Flex your feet. Then enter yoga body contortions or other challenging stretches. Then back to plank. Down on the floor/cobra/flex feet. Then swoop up into a pike (hands and feet on the ground, butt up, making your body form a triangular shape, like the top of a mountain), and finally, jump your feet forward for more touch-your-toes stretches.

And this goes on for a solid hour. In a room that is precisely 105 degrees with 40% humidity.

I look forward to dying in Flow class again next week.

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