Today was my third day of hot yoga. I am learning and noticing many new things. For example, today just before the end of the standing poses, I thought I was going to pass out and left the room. When I came back, the instructor told me to just lie down and breathe. I did. I refocused and finished the class without incident. I thought about what happened and figured it out. I tried to rearrange my breathing pattern, got distracted, began thinking about the heat, started looking around and lost focus. From this I learned just how much of this practice is mental – while the physical is very rigorous, it can’t be done without total focus.
You do the same 29 poses everyday. The instructor calls out each instruction and you have to focus and breath, making moving thru the poses without caring about the heat, the other people, or how much time is left, possible. Your mind literally takes a 90 minute vacation while your body gets a total cardio/strength workout. The idea is you don’t need to go to the gym anymore. Through these 10 classes, I’m supposed to get an idea if this is the way I want to go for exercise. My gym renews in December so I have time to think about it and try it longer before deciding.
Also, today driving, I suddenly sat up straighter and an involuntary breath escaped and surprised me. In line at the grocery store I dropped my shoulders remembering something the instructor said about natural shoulder position in class and immediately felt relaxed.
Small things, but noticeable.
In the end, as another day goes by, I feel good after three days and…I have written.
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