It only took a few minutes before I was drenched in sweat, twisting, grabbing, and turning my body, balancing in ways I didn’t think were possible.  It all happened in Bangkok, Thailand, through the persuasion of my friend,  Ali Pepler who wanted to practice “hot yoga.”

The instructor (a man) at Absolute Yoga, was quite frankly a little strange, and being the only male in the room, surrounded by about 25 females, he took a slight liking to me, helping correct my stances.  I took this as a polite gesture and attempted to grab my various tentacles, positioning all limbs at the correct angle to the best of my rather limited ability.

The smooth stretching of the spine and hips felt great in addition to the health benefits that are associated.  As I raised my arms, reaching for the cieling, standing on a single foot, with the other leg wrapped around my thigh or was it my calf? (can you picture it?), all my digits in a random yet organized position, I could feel my blood stream, flowing at its maximum potential, optimizing all blood supply.  All that to say, it was a good feeling.

The experience was insightful, the exercise good, the sweat intense (there was a heater in the room).  If it wasn’t for the lack of all things related to “schedule” in my life, I might consider routine yoga to limber my limbs, stretch my joints, and relax my body.

This was my first time to yoga.  I’ll admit that I was slightly pessimistic going in, but it really wasn’t bad.  All irony aside, to me it was a bit of a relaxing form of exercise.  Still, I won’t lie when I say the “savasana” period, also known as the rest period, where one lies on the back, arms to the side, and palms up, comparable to a corpse, was my favrorite part.

Related

• Hot Yoga by Ali Pepler
  
• Absolute Yoga