By Shelby
Twelve days into 2011, I’m sure many of us have already broken at least one of our New Year’s Resolutions—or if not broken, at least amended them. My resolve to get some exercise every day weakened into allowing a walk to Gourdough’s to count. While it may classify as physical activity, I’m sure whatever I ingested there swung the calorie meter an entirely different direction.
Anyway, I belonged to a gym for years, but I could never be bothered to go and slave away on the elliptical, but I was a very committed class-goer. I’ve realized that when it comes to physical fitness, if I don’t have a class or an accountability partner, then I just won’t do it. (My TV won’t watch itself after all.) So since I left my gym I’ve fallen into the Groupon (or Living Social or Dealio, etc.) Fitness Plan, which involves buying up months of memberships to different fitness organizations. I’ve found it to be a fantastic way to try new workouts and also have that class-commitment mentality I need, all for a price I can actually afford.
So in honor of everyone’s favorite month to sweat, I thought I’d share some of the places I’ve worked out thanks to social marketing. First up, Bodhi Yoga, where I sweated more than I’ve ever sweat in my life.
Bodhi has two locations, one next to FINO (now closed) near campus and one across from the Hill Country Galleria. I only ever attended classes at the latter location, which is also the newer one, and I highly recommend it because of the serene view from the larger studio that is walled with glass on two sides.
I’m not a super-experienced yoga student at all. I very much like it, and I’ve taken some classes. I hope to be better at it someday. So the first class I took at the studio was Kundalini yoga, which was in the smaller room and completely not my cup of tea. The stretching, strength-training and relaxation aspects of yoga are what interest me and inspire me most. Chanting—well, it’s just not for me. Kundalini yoga seemed to me to be more focused on the spiritual aspects of yoga than the physical. The others in my class seemed to get a lot out of it, so I just chalk up my reaction to an impatient and unpracticed mind. Also, it was hard to focus when you could hear the instructor in the adjacent studio through the garage door-esque wall that connected the two.
However, all my concerns were blown away when I took Bodhi’s signature class, The Hot 26. It was my first experience with yoga in a heated room, and, wow, did it ever kick my arse. In the best possible way. First, you know you’re in trouble when you walk in the room and immediately break into a sweat. That’s because the room is heated to 100 degrees. Then when the front desk insists you have both a towel and a large jug of water, you know you’re in for some hardcore sweating.
Hot 26 lives up to its name, taking you through 26 postures while you work up the biggest sweat of your life. The heat really allows your body to stretch to an even greater extent, and I found myself surprised how much deeper I could go into some poses than I had previously thought. That said, hot yoga isn’t for everyone. Some people find saunas relaxing; I don’t, mostly because we Texans live in one from June to September. At first, I had a hard time focusing on anything other than the sweat dripping down my forehead, but eventually, the heat does become peaceful and you do relax.
If I lived closer to Bodhi Yoga and had a chunk of spare change to spare, I can see myself really getting into hot yoga. But after my month was over, I moved on to my next Groupon. Boot camp!