Christie:  Mom, want to sign up for Bikram yoga with me?  
Me:  Sure, sounds great.


Three days later.
Location:  Bikram yoga
Time:  Two minutes to start of class.


Christie:  Mom, you look terrified.


Two minutes later.
Location:  Bikram yoga.


Enter:  Richard, Bikram yoga instructor.  Richard heads to the front of the room.  Everyone stands.


Richard:  Hi  Class, Welco....


Christie:  (sinking to the floor)  I'm going down.  I'm going down.


Bikram yoga.  Do you know what Bikram yoga is?  Bikram yoga is yoga that is done in a room that is hot.  Not just mildly hot but really hot.  Really, really hot.  Fifteen thousand degrees hot.  And do you know what they tell you your goal is for your first class?  To stay in the room.  Your goal is to stay in the room for 90 minutes.  Not learn a new pose, not follow along as best you can, not push yourself a little harder.   No.  Your one and only goal is to not leave the room.


The class starts with a breathing exercise.  It lasts five minutes.  The goal of this breathing exercise is to open up your lungs... to get rich, oxygenated blood to every part of your body and to prepare your body for the 85 minutes of true yoga to come.    After the five minute breathing exercise the only rich, oxygenated blood I had was in my pinkie toe.  I was dizzy from now zero oxygen to my brain, drenched from the fifteen thousand degree heat and one hundred percent out of the breath I was supposedly just channeling.   85 minutes to go.

Stay in the room.  The only goal.    Stay. In. The. Room.

Time:  85 minutes later
Location:  Bikram yoga
Scene:  Two yoga mats side by side.  Christie one one, me on the other.   Red faced, dripping wet.  Showing our complete mastery of the dead body pose.  


Still in the room.

Namaste