February 14, 2012: Hot Date for V-Day

I should start this post by telling you that I can barely begin writing because I am laughing too hard about the title. Period Ten on Valentine's day consisted of two parts. Part 1: I grabbed a red and white tie-dyed T-shirt on my way out of the door in the morning with the intention of making a Valentine's Day T-shirt scarf either before school or during lunch. Did it...Here it is:

Part 2: Hot Yoga! Bikram Yoga to be exact. My friend and I met up after work for some yoga and then sushi dinner. I have done Bikram Yoga several times before but my friend had not. It is an extremely intense workout... well an intense experience all together. First, it is a 90 minute class and takes place in a room that is 105deg F (about 40.6deg C). Clearly even sitting in a room that hot for 90 minutes is excruciating... but add in 26 different strenuous exercises... you've got a challenge! Naturally I was curious about the origin of this seemingly torturous activity. My curiosity opened a can of worms... there is so much to learn. If you are interested in the detailed story just check out Bikram Yoga Wikipedia page and then click the live links to understand the terms and connections. (Thats how I learn all kinds of things.) Here are some of the interesting things that I learned on my informational journey...
There are many kinds of yoga... and there are even a couple of different versions of hot yoga. The Sanskrit word "yoga" literally means yoke... which sort-of means to harness or attach. Sanskrit is the primary language of Hinduism and Buddhism. The goals of yoga range from attaining good health to achieving moksha... or liberation from the suffering associated with life, death and reincarnation. Woaha. A key to achieving moksha is self-realization, which can be reached through performing different kinds of yoga. (Hmmm.... perhaps more people would practice yoga if it were marketed this way?? haha IDK.) Anyway, Bikram Yoga specifically was developed by an Indian man named Bikram Choudhury. He actually started studying yoga when he was three years old and was incredibly successful in yoga competitions (who knew you could compete in yoga??) in his teenage years. His style of yoga is practiced in a hot room with exactly 26 physical poses and breathing exercises. The theory behind the breathing exercises is that they increase lung capacity and therefore oxygen absorption. The physical poses are meant to be strenuous and compress certain areas of the body, cutting them off from blood flow. This, supposedly, causes the heart to pump faster in an effort to supply those areas with blood. When you release from the pose the fresh, oxygenated blood rushes into the deprived area. 
I have to say, when I leave Bikram Yoga I do feel awesome. I have heard some views though that it is dangerous and the heat in the room can invite overextension of muscles and joints, which could be detrimental. I can totally see how this would be addicting, however, because it really does feel refreshing when you are done. I am intrigued by Buddhism and the goals of overall physical and mental health and clarity.