Sometimes I drink so much water during the day I feel as though I could float away.  This ended up being a blessing in disguise yesterday, when I embarked on my latest personal challenge.

Last fall, out of what felt like nowhere, the yoga studio I had been attending closed it’s doors..  I was dealing with the diagnosis process of MS, things with my mum and the ramp up into the holidays (our party, my birthday, the restaurant) so I didn’t go out of my way to find a new studio.  I’d practiced intermittently for years and even then was only prioritizing one class a week.

When I finally got back to class ~ after all the seriousness of January and chaos of February~ I’d found my old teacher, but I wasn’t completely in love with the studio.  And I also knew that my practice wasn’t going to progress going to class once a week.   I knew that I had to figure out what I wanted to accomplish, and make the choices necessary to get there. I knew I could, because I’d done it before.

Last year, I decided I wanted to run Broad Street.  And I did it.  I wasn’t able to do the half marathon in the fall (too many physical issues … which makes me feel like an old lady if I think too much about it!) but I will do it one day.  If ever the passion to run comes back.

So, after some discussions with the man (who is beginning his own journey this evening and I’m SO excited for him!) I chose a studio about five minutes from our abode, and am on day two of my 30 day unlimited class pass.  My goal is to go once a day (other that this Saturday and Sunday because I’m getting my hair done, and it needs 48 hours of no sweating ~ keratin is high maintenance but oh.so.worth.it.) I feel as though being dedicated will help my practice progress as well as help me stay strong and flexible even as my body does funny, weird and inexplicable things.

I decided last night, that since I was getting all kinds of crazy, I would try hot yoga. Aka Bikram.

Wow! Bikram is a whole new world.  After class last night, I was commended for what a great job I did, and for not getting sick.  Literally ~ the instructor actually told me as I was hobbling out of the studio that multiple people stopped to say how they were impressed with the new girl for not getting sick and making it all the way through class.  A huge compliment, but also, to me, hilarious.  By the end of class, I was giving myself an internal pep talk  … you can do this, hang in there, you can do this, breathe through it.  

When I first walked in the room, I was immediately shocked by the temperature.  I had never been in a studio that hot, and I realized there is a huge difference between hot vinyasa, and traditional hot yoga.  It’s a totally different atmosphere. It’s also interesting how the focus is different ~ the moves are done in a specific order, there’s no meditation or introspective thoughts ~ it’s breath, balance, heat and a lot of sweat.  All that water I mentioned above?  I sweated it all out!

This morning was an express class ~ in usual hot yoga or Bikram classes, each move is done twice, for a minute on each side, and then again for thirty seconds each.  Class lasts approximately ninety minutes.  It’s looong (or at least, it feels that way).  The express class does each move once, and I’m not sure if it’s because I had just done a class the night before, or if my body was just exhausted from Lucy and my morning walk.  Either way, this morning was rough.

Which only motivates me more to go to class every single day until I can make it through and hold the poses.  It’s always scary — for me at least — to try something new.  But I’ve been proud of myself for going outside my comfort zone and being proactive.  It’s easy to talk about the things I want to do or accomplish ~ it’s much cooler when I actually do it.