Hot Yoga

So, I tried hot yoga today. I'd tried yoga before, but found it infuriating trying to follow abstract instructions ("reach with the roof of your mouth", "extend your tailbone", "unfurl your heart", etc). I liked the stretching, and I could definitely stand to be a bit more flexible. I also really liked feeling that I got a full workout out of the deal. Hot yoga came up because I figured in a stressful, hot environment there wouldn't be any patience for that metaphorical instructions bullshit. Also, Sweatbox Yoga has a pretty sweet intro deal. First off, I'm happy to report that I was right. I really liked this instructor. She just told you what to bend, what to flex, what to press into what, it was great. So, in short, the "yoga" part of hot yoga was great. Turns out the hot part of it isn't so great. At first it didn't seem to bad. It wasn't as hot as a sauna, and I really liked just laying on the ground in a warm room, breathing in warm air. Truth be told, I was imagining I was in Hawaii, and the heat pretty much sold that illusion. But then we did yoga. There were 3 sections. I paused once in the first section because I was short on breath. I stopped halfway through the second section because I was dizzy. And I didn't do much of the third section, except the very last bit, because I was still super dizzy. (by "stopped" I mean I either knelt or lay down on the mat. They recommend you do either if you feel dizzy or nauseous. The class goes on without you though and you can back in whenever you want) But that wasn't the worst part. After leaving, I was starved and dehydrated. I had brunch and took a nap, but it took me pretty much the rest of the day to shake my dehydration headache and that odd feeling of dizziness. Even then, my muscles still felt entirely spent, like I'd just finished an Ultimate tournament. I had no energy to do anything until about 6pm. The class had ended at 11:30am So yeah, it kicked my ass. I might do it once again and super hydrate beforehand, just to make sure this experience wasn't a fluke. Even saying that, it sounds like a stupid idea, but I guess I am an engineer.

Bike commuting

I don't have the time for full, well thought out blog posts. I could make the time, but frankly I'm happy with the amount of time I spend doing other things. But for the time being, I hope to make more frequent (but shorter) updates here. I'm trying to keep up this bike commuting thing. I really like how quickly I can get to work, and I like that I'm doing it under my own power. Not so much because it saves gas, but because it helps works exercise into a daily routine that I have to do anyway. Its also awesome to use the roads and not be a car when there's a good amount of traffic. Especially riding on a freshly tuned-up bike. We'll see how long I can keep this up. I probably need to buy a few things as it gets colder and wetter, like a jacket that's actually waterproof and splash guards for my tires. For now, a change of clothes seems to be working just fine.