I Like a Challenge....

but is it a bad sign when the teacher tells you that the next pose is called "the tourniquet" becuase it cuts off the blood flow to your feet? Since I reached my goal for the weekend yesterday morning very quickly (after my two hours of search efforts last spring, I cannot believe that I found my passport in the first place I looked). I decided to try a relatively new challenge today: hot yoga. Since I don't live in a big city, the "hot" part just means that the classroom is 72 degrees (as opposed to 100 plus degrees), which is fine by me.

The was my second class with my first being three months ago, and I was comforted by the fact that a man was taking it too. That means I won't be the only person who looks stupid and/or cannot do at least a quarter of the poses. In fact, men often leave fitness classes after the first 10 minutes. I once watched a man send the three levels of a step flying across the room. And as punishment for hitting on me while I was trying to workout, I once persuaded a guy to accompany me to Cardiofunk class. I think I told him it was a boot camp class with a lot of men. Instead the class was led my a gay man who taught us dances to "Oops I Did It Again," "Bye Bye Bye," and "He Wasn't Man Enough for Me." My guest was a real trooper for the first 15 minutes, and his dance efforts made me laugh so hard that I couldn't do the routines myself. Several women thanked me for bringing the entertainment after class. It was awesome and worth having to endure his advances for a few minutes.

Anyway, during hot yoga I find myself muttering "I don't think so" and/or laughing periodically, especially when a pose involves contorting my body into a pretzel or doing multiple real push-ups. I wish I had some photos for this post because that would ensure laughter. I had on my "I Feel Lucky" green and yellow pants and generally looked ridiculous as I asked my body to do things it has never done before, but I must admit that I felt like I had really accomplished something when I left the class. And that makes me happy (and probably sore).

I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend too.