Yoga Shout Out: Some Like It Hot!

Sweat pouring like a little cloudburst around my mat. The result of exertion. The bodies response to overheating. A warning to slow down. But there we are in our sweat proof shorts panting and dripping, refusing to stop. We see a gathering pool in front of our mats. We think, "I need one of those yogi toe mats to sop this stuff up. Crap! Now I can't do a downward dog because I am slipping. My mat is now a Slip n' Slide (If you are to young to remember what that is too bad for you!). Why is the teacher pushing us. It's too much. Oh thank god, she just called for a Child's Pose. How about a paramedic while your at it because I really think I could have a heart attack here. But I am not going to stop! Then the teacher says,, "Jump to a forward bend, come to standing pose, arms overhead, and hands resting at your side...and breathe" Oh thanks teacher. As if I am going to forget to breathe! Oh, I guess I did stop breathing there for awhile while I was thinking. Never mind.

You have just witnessed an excerpt from inside my head. Paradoxically, the purpose of yoga...well the ultimate outcome, should be the cessation in the fluctuations of the mind. Impossible you say? I say impossible too! But it's okay becuase sometimes you just get into a loop of thought. So I try not to fight it too much and just let it pass.

Back to heat and sweat. The nice thing about doing some rapid sun salutations is that it generates internal heat. That in turn heats up the muscles and tendons and consequently we can be a bit more limber, which of course helps the poses.

This heat building is typical of Ashtanga yoga, where in the beginning of class a rapid succession of up and down "sun salutations" generates the heat for the remaining poses. In Bikram yoga, the heat is produced for us. This may be helpful for those that are not at all flexible. This style can help those with extreme inflexibility start to open up more quickly.

I think it's fun to mix it up and try them all. Why not? Life is about adventure.
So take yourself on one.
Some like it hot, some don't.
But eventually you are going to sweat in class.
So enjoy it because that means that you are putting forth the effort
and the systems in your body will be happier for it.



Namaste, Friends