Healthy Tips: The Beginner's Take of Hot Yoga

I've always enjoyed yoga, it calms the brain, stretches the muscles and soothes the soul.  Being the fitness fanatic that I am, I finally had a chance to give hot yoga a try.  I mean how bad could it be?  It's just yoga in a warm room right?  Boy was I wrong.

So I am one of those people who sweat alot, it's like I have a furnace burning inside me at all times, so I don't need extra heat to stay warm, I could probably be the poster boy for hyperhydrosis.  That should have been the first indicator that this class wasn't going to be a great fit for me.  But there was this coupon going around for 20 session for 20 bucks, how could I turn that down?  I'm Asian afterall.

So here's my first impression of hot yoga:

Free facial:  If you're looking to clean your pores, this is for you.  Who needs neutrogena when you have hot yoga.  I could have filled my water bottle with my sweat and it seemed like all the water I put in was coming right back out of my pores. 

Nudists allowed:  When I first walked in I noticed a guy wearing only a pair of short shorts.  At first I thought, what a dweeb, but after the session I realized what a genius he was!  The less clothes you wear the better and try to wear the breathable material that pulls the sweat off your skin so you don't feel like a sweaty sock.  Remind yourself that it can get to 40C in the room.

Towel service:  I didn't bring a towel, so I ended up using my shirt as a towel.  It didn't help much since it was wet itself.  Bring a big one that covers your entire mat if possible, you'll be thankful for it later.  Unless you want your yoga matt to smell like blue cheese in a week.  In fact, I'm going to have to incinerate my mat now.

Club Med or Panic Room:  During the last portion of the session, we layed on our mats and were supposed to meditate and relax.  I don't know if it was my body overheating or because it was my first time, but at some points I felt like I couldn't breathe and was having panic attacks.  I had to situp before the class was actually over to catch my breath.  I even debated walking out of there because the heat was making my heart beat abnormally fast.  Perhaps I was dehydrated, sonext time I'm going to bring at least a litre of water.

Here's a shot of a dry shirt and the shirt after the class.  I was dripping like Chinese water torture

Overall, it was a great class, even though I was sweating into my socks.  I went to Sanguine Yoga, it's one of the few studios in the NE and Jade was the instructor.  It's definitely something different, it's not my forte but I'll do it again, besides I gotta get my money's worth from that voucher I bought.