HOT YOGA

OOF. I did hot yoga the other day for the first time.

Have you all heard about it? It's something that people who have disposable income and lots of toxins like to do. I guess I'm one of those people now.

My roommate Laura had asked me if I wanted to go to hot yoga a few months ago. Well, actually, maybe she didn't ask me if I wanted to go? Maybe she just mentioned to me that she was going with one of her friends and I implied an invitation. Awkward?

Well anyway, even if she had invited me, I wasn't ready to go. The idea of yoga + sweating in front of strangers didn't seem appealing to me. I can't imagine why..

Fast forward a few months when my co-worker, Sandy, also mentioned hot yoga. Is this boring anyone yet? I'm unsure about Laura, but I'm 100% sure that Sandy mentioned hot yoga to me and THEN also asked me if I'd want to go with her.

People invite me to things sometimes! I AM SO COOL.

I was unsure but then, remembered lots of conversations I've had with lots of people, about how I'm like, you know, SOOOO open-minded and will try anything once (yes, anything - shove it - gross). And, I got to thinking.

I'm many things. I'm super awesome and adorable. I'm literate. I'm left-handed. I'm randomly clean. I'm thoughtful. I'm funny (? right?) and self-assured (get that joke?). One thing I am not, though, is an intentional hypocrite. Sure, things happen and like, I told you I HATE that guy you're dating, and then the next day I'M making out with him (what up tequila shots!). And, there was that time I was totally against cotton blends and now it's all I can wear. And let's not forget Japan...
...but, those things were accidents!

I pride myself on a) being a nice person who, when given the chance, will usually do the 'right' thing (an entry on my personal set of morals and ethics is coming soon! JK. no one wants to hear about that, which is something that personally bothers me and I find offensive, but anyway...)

So, for the sake of not making myself look like an asshole, I told Sandy I'd go to hot yoga with her. If I didn't go with her, I reasoned, people might find out that I actually won't try EVERYTHING ONCE, and then, when I used that line in conversation in the future, I worried, people might call me a hypocrite.

And I went because I thought it'd be fun and I'd enjoy spending time with Sandy and blahbity other things.

Sandy was cute enough to invite me via her google calendar (which automatically updates on my iphone...go figure), and we went for the first time two weeks ago.

HUH.

So, have any of you, besides Laura, and Jamie, and Giuliana done hot yoga?

It was an experience. Whatever boundaries I have, were shut down. Sweating in front of strangers? Eh, it happened. Sticking my butt, essentially, in someone's face while being sweaty? All over it. Staring at myself in the mirror, unabashedly, while surrounded by peers? I was all up in that business (please note, I look at myself in the mirror or my phone ALL THE TIME...but I usually am a bit ashamed about it or try to pretend like I'm involved in something more serious).

The class was 90 minutes. The temperature was 105.

For those of you who have known of me or been friends with me since 2008, you might recall July and August of that year. Jamie, Larry and I did not have an air conditioner that summer for...I can't even think of a reason. It was broken? Or, the slot in the wall for the air conditioner (an aside - why the hell do they do that in New York City? Hole in the wall air conditioners are awkward and expensive. Sure, New Yorkers don't mind awkward, but penny-pinchers are we!) was a weird size so we couldn't find something to fit in there?

Anyway, the point of this is that, if you hung out with me when it was 100 degrees during the summer of 2008, in the rare moments that I was able to escape from my third-floor oven and unglue myself from the couch, you know that it wasn't ideal/pretty/like I was a human. It just...GOD. WAS SO HOT IN THERE! And then, as I sweat through my clothes and lacked the motivation to move, I became angry and unable to string sentences together. I showered in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night. I only felt comfortable talking to Jamie because she knew what I was going through.

I completely sweat through my clothes, but surprised myself in that I was able to hold some of the poses and didn't fall on my face once. I even, after class, chatted with some people WHILE my face was still red and I probably reeked. Normally I avoid people when I feel that I'm not at my best (well, except for when I'm drunk...in which case I seek out people I should probably be avoiding...uh), but toxin-free I felt liberated and like I could and would do anything!

I killed a guy on the subway ride home!

ha
ha
ha

In conclusion, you should try everything once because a) you might end up liking or b) it can help you figure out what you're allergic to.