Hot Yoga

Some of my friends ask "Why would you do Hot Yoga?"  I have a simple answer.  It is the first time I've been warm since moving to Seattle.  And yes, it is like doing yoga on the sidewalk in the month of August in New Orleans.  Hot, Humid and some dude playing jazz on the sound system.  By the time an hour is survived, there is not a stitch of clothing on me that is not wringing wet.  I do mean survived.  Hot Yoga is not for the weak or the feeble minded.  Every instinct says, Run!  Get the heck out of here!  Find the AC.  But if you ignore your common sense, you are blessed with Zen like frame of mind and a yoga butt.  The frame of mind is not unlike some of my college days when I had less responsibilities and more time on my hands. Added benefit is I am losing weight and as a member of the over 40 club, anything that takes weight off is ok by me.  Yes, there are health benefits and detox.  Detox is a big thing here in Seattle.  In Austin, we just sweat it out in the 100+ degree heat of summer and no one really talks about detox.  Here in the Emerald City, we layer our clothes, sit in front of the fire for several months and drink a lot of coffee.  We need to detox!  On the subject of coffee, I gave it up in November and now I am a card carrying Green Tea drinker.  The irony of moving to the mothership capital of coffee and to stop drinking 4 cups a day does not get past me.  I hear the universe getting a big laugh over this one.  But truth is I feel better.  I did an Isagenix detox (Seattle is also a detox capital, I might add) last year and after 2 weeks decides, oh one cup of coffee won't hurt me.  No had told me the awful truth.  I felt betrayed.  The coffee tasted horrid.  Bitter and metallic... oh my!  So now when I get nostalgic for a cup of java, I get a Starbucks fireside chi tea latte.  See they still get my money, and I get the coffee ritual.  Most things in life go back to ritual.  The little rituals that make us feel good.  Hot Yoga is becoming a ritual for me.  And it feels so good with class is over!