Sweaty Elbows (My 1st hot yoga class)

The thing about hot yoga is that you will have sweat coming from body parts you didn’t know could sweat.  Like your elbows.  I was a little intimidated by the idea of trying a 75 minute class where I would be sweating while twisting my body into a human pretzel.  I’ve taken regular yoga classes before.  I can  feel my heart rate go up and blood get pumping in the cooler temps of those classes.  I was a little uncertain if I might be passing out at some point during the class.

The first thing I noticed was that the class was PACKED.  We’re talking 7 rows across at least 10 rows packed.  That’s the first sign that you know it’s a good class.  I was grateful that my friend choose spots for us in the 2nd row to the right by the window.  I think if I was in the middle of the herd I would have felt a bit claustrophobic with all of the people surrounding me in a hot room.

The room had quotes and inspirational encouragement written on the blackboard along with instruction for better form.

I’ll admit before the class started my mind wandered to thoughts of how embarrassing it would be to carried off in a stretcher if I didn’t make it.  The instructor asked how many newbies were in the class that day at the beginning of the class.  It was a relief to know I wasn’t the only new one.

The instructor got us started with breathing and several poses that I was familiar with from taking my “normal” yoga class.  She was really encouraging and the pace felt really fluid.  I didn’t feel like my heart rate was getting too high to where I wanted to faint or run out the door from feeling suffocated.

At certain poses it was great to turn my head and look at inspirational quotes or phrases on the wall.

My friend said that the grace and peace encouragement really stood out to her during our class.  She was also super helpful with showing me how to get better form when my arms were crossed the wrong way for a balancing pose.  At one point of the class we partnered up and helped each other with poses that took us to a deeper stretch.

What’s nice about the a warm room is that your body seems to stretch way easier than normal.  Which is good because I’m guilty of not stretching enough with my regular workouts.  You will also SWEAT from EVERYWHERE but so is everyone else which causes you to feel less insecure than you would in a regular class.

The whole class went by way faster than I expected and was really enjoyable.  I concentrated on being in the moment of focusing on each pose.  It was also good that there wasn’t a clock in site because I tend to peak at the clock during my normal exercise classes to see how much longer I have to endure.

I would definitely recommend trying a hot yoga class.  The picture for the blog post is our “after” pic.  I really felt refreshed and like my body had really accomplished something.

If you want to try  a hot yoga class try check out Funky Buddha Yoga Hothouse on my discount page or to find a hot yoga class near you.