Summertime, and the Sweatin's Easy

A slightly better Downward Dog than I managed.
Ow.

OK, that's really only a little ow, lower-case letters and all. Yesterday, The Great Yoga Experiment began with a trip to what was billed as restorative yoga, which aims to help people recovering from injuries or surgeries. It was not restorative yoga. That position up there may look kinda easy, but it requires some fairly serious physical effort.

That was the surprise at the start of TGYE: Yoga is physically demanding, but not just in a stretchy way. It requires more power, more anerobic energy, than I thought. I have a bad memory.

My first yoga experience seven years ago was something of a stunt. As part of a series called Jim & Jim at the Gym, I worked out with a photographer friend to prepare for ski and snowboard season in Utah. We ran hills, we hiked dogs and we did Bikram yoga.

Bikram yoga is done in a room heated to between 105 and 110 degrees. The theory is that the warm temperatures help loosen our joints and make us more flexible for the positions. Even in Utah, it gets fairly humid in the room.

But the temperature is really just an asthetic. The first hour or so of Bikram is a series of what I call power posturing. Downward dog is a pushup. No big deal, right? Well, when that butt gets high up in the air and you hold the position, it becomes a big deal. Multiply that by an hour of different areas of emphasis and yoga can be a great workout.

And that is why, of all the things to be sore from last night's non-Bikram experience, I think it's funny that my right shoulder hurts. Not my precious right knee. Not my legs. Not my gluteus maximus (which is more maximus than it's been in the past). My right shoulder.

That's not a complaint. It was a good workout and induced sweat. Which is why I'm giving my permission to do the opposite of Bikram yoga today. In two minutes, I'm going to the movies because our house doesn't have air conditioning and it's currently 80 degrees on my couch. Today, I'm leaving Downward Dog to my dog, Daisy. Tomorrow, I'll do yoga again. Perhaps even Bikram, in which case the first word of my next blog might be OW.

Comments

  1. CatherineJuly 12, 2011 at 8:31 AM

    Unsolicited information of the day: "My right shoulder hurts." That's why Bikram yoga doesn't have downward dog or any other inversions/arm balances. Every class is a beginner class. :) I'm glad your right knee doesn't hurt.

    So whatcha gonna see?

    ReplyDelete
  2. JillJuly 12, 2011 at 9:04 AM

    Yoga killed my ankle. It doesn't bend like it's supposed to. The argument is that perhaps if I kept going with it, it would become more flexible. I don't know.

    I like movies. 56-5-6.

    ReplyDelete

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