last saturday, my friend M and i went to a yoga studio in oak park to take advantage of their "one week free" promotion. i like free things, so i was all game. this studio only does "hot" yoga. classes range anywhere from 90-105 degrees. it's...hot. well, i loved the class so much, that i've gone for the past three days by my own volition. i love it. not only do i leave feeling calm, but i'm so damn sweaty that i feel like i really accomplished something (which is saying a lot these days). let me share with you some observations/experiences as an amateur yogi:
-it turns out that yogis don't wear running shorts, running shirts (i sported my Shamrock Shuffle 5K! shirt), or cotton shirts that show sweat. having worn all of these items over the past three days, i'm slowly learning how to fit in as a yogi.
-another thing yogis don't do? bring beach towels to lay down on top of mats. i wanted to bring SOMETHING to put down over my mat, as i had just given it a good washing after power washing it with my sweat the past few days. however, my brightly colored beach towel, complete with palm trees and beach umbrellas, didn't really fit in. additionally, it honestly distracted me. i couldn't balance all night.
-however. the not-being-able-to-balance well thing may have been a result of the fact that tonight's class was conducted by candlelight. good lord. i thought it'd be all spiritual and meditative. instead i found i couldn't focus my eyes and did all i could just to stand up straight. light rocks.
-i have determined my DREAM JOB is to make yoga session playlists. each class i've gone to has had a stellar line-up. many of the songs were some of my favs, which kinda tells me i seek out calm, meditative tunes. i also find it kind of distracting when songs like the lumineers' "ho hey" come on. it's hard to tap your toes in tree pose.
-tonight, the instructor said, "next, we will do sha na ho ne ka hashim (ok. i made that up. something yogi-ish). sit-ups." being told to do sit-ups in another language makes them sound so much more exciting and much less painful.
-many yogis have often wondered, "i wonder what the WORST meal you could eat before doing yoga is." well, look no further. about an hour and a half before i went to yoga tonight, i had homemade pizza, salad, beer, and trader joe jo-jo cookies. turns out, sweating and contorting is not fun when you have blue moon and frosting rolling around in your belly.
-some yogis like to breathe REALLY loudly. tonight i was by a man who had all sorts of grunts, yawns, and even a few farts. i felt as though i was listening to someone having sex or sleeping.
while i'm a long ways from complete zen, i'm enjoying all these new lessons. i'm working really hard to be more curious in my life, and this has been a great first step.
namaste, ya'll.
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