Am I a Pretzel?

Yoga.

Last night's adventure was Hot Yoga. 38C (100F) - No wonder it felt so darn HOT!!!

You may be wondering why there is so much Yoga going on these days. That Yoga Place offers a first-timers special - 30 days for $40, unlimited classes. So... yeah, I've got to try as many as will fit into my schedule in 30 days - within reason of course. :D

The class was listed as Hot Flow for "all levels". I was joined by Lorraine (who has done Yoga before) and it was great to see her last night! I'm beginning to think that I'll need to do some research on Yoga as I don't know/understand some of the "poses" that were done last night. It is a bit difficult when the instructor says "On the next breath, find Baby Cobra or Something-or-other Dog" and you don't know what that is! No, it wasn't Downward Facing Dog - something more like Up Dog (What's up, Dog?).

Hot flow is definitely more work/harder than Candlelight Yoga (which is meant to calm you at the end of the day) and I will be trying it again tomorrow night before deciding how much I like it or not. I mean, anything that uses a pose name like "Warrior" has got to be good, right?

Ah, and did I  mention that I was twisted up like a pretzel in this class? I guess I neglected to include that so here it is: Hot Flow Yoga includes some of the craziest pretzel twists I can imagine. Ready for this? Stand tall with your hands over your head. Lower your arms so that your hands are reaching for the ceiling but your elbows are bent out in front of you. Cross your right elbow under your left elbow and wrap your right arm in and around your left arm. Press both arms up towards the ceiling. Next, shift all of your weight to your right leg/foot, lift your left leg and wrap it over your right leg/knee and now SQUAT as though you are sitting in an invisible chair. Right, it is actually a NON-EXISTENT chair... Got that pose? Good, now hold it here. Don't move, don't fall over, just squat there. Are you doing it? Yeah? I can see you. No, don't laugh, that will make you fall over. Just breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Okay, good, now you can untwist.

I don't know what it is called so for now it is the "Be a Pretzel" pose. I can't do it... Yet.

Tonight's class - Candlelight Yin. More like the Candlelight Yoga class I tried on Monday. Stay tuned!