Hot, Sweaty and All Stretched Out

#5. Finally use that Groupon for hot yoga that I bought 8 months ago.

Back to Bikram. Back to sweating out 1/2 my body weight and wondering if that person in front of me removed their ribs or some other bone to enable their un-human-like flexibility. Back to admiring the Greek men in the class (why are there always Greek men in Bikram?!) in their small brief shorts and convincing myself that if I keep this up, I, too, can achieve 1% body fat. Back to wondering why the instructor always uses metaphors involving flowers.

Saturday I packed up my gym bag with my not-cold-enough Nalgene, towel and yoga mat and headed down to Bikram City Chicago in River North. Not the most creative name, but straight-forward and a solid studio.

The 90-minute class reminded me why I like yoga. For a girl who is constantly planning, running (late) and overbooked, yoga forces me to stop; to focus on breathing, stretching and building strength for the duration of the class.

Of course, in that 1.5 hours, I also mentally planned the rest of my weekend, tried to figure out how I was going to use 20 classes before the expiration and made a promise to myself to wear a headband next time (as my bangs constantly fell in my face). I'm not quite a pro at achieving true zen through yoga, but I am a little sore today - so I'll count that as a win. And I checked off #5 on my 30 Before 30 list.

What to do next?