hot yoga at kula oakville.

I'm not much of a group exercise person.  I prefer to grunt and sweat and curse by my lonesome.  Over the course of my life, I have attended a total of four yoga classes.  The first was at a studio downtown, where it all seemed very competitive and new comers were looked at warily (lest you take a regular's favourite spot).  The last three classes were at a gym here in Oakville, and the vibe was all wrong.  Seems to me that vibe is fairly important when it comes to yoga. 

So, here I am, strangely having the urge to go do some yoga at an actual yoga studio, with other people (*gasp*). I put the word out on facebook to my friends, asking what they suggested.  My friend Julie suggested "kula" so I checked them out. Nice site, and on facebook and twitter as well! I love a business that gets social media, so I figured I'd check them out.  (Though, if the folks at kula are reading this I do have a bunch of suggestions regarding social media and would be happy to do an energy exchange for some classes!)

On Sunday I took a "restorative yoga" class which was really what I needed going into a new week.  I wasn't feeling quite ready to venture into hot yoga (or as I like to call it "fart" yoga due to its reputation for being  stinky).  As happy as I was with the restorative yoga, I really felt that I still needed to try to hot/fart yoga.  The stars aligned and I was able to go last night for a 60 minute power vinyasa class.

First off, it really is a bit stinky. But, you get used to it, after about 10 minutes.  I got to the class 15 minutes early and stretched out on my mat.  By the time the class started, I was already sweating.  The teacher, Becky started out by asking us if any of us were new, and much to my relief, I was not the only one.  I really liked her style.  She has a relaxed way about her, and a gentle sense of humour that really works.  Also, I don't think she sweats, which I find intriguing as it was dripping off me within 5 minutes of class starting. 

I am not normally someone who likes feeling hot, but I really enjoyed doing hot yoga.  There is something about exercising in close quarters with other people who are working through their own stuff that is powerful.  Nobody cared what I was doing, or how good or bad I was.  There were all shapes and sizes and a wide range of skill levels.  Seriously, there was an older guy in front of me that blew my mind with the stuff he could do, and a complete beginner who had never done yoga behind me.  After doing P90X yoga for the last 3 months, this was a terrific change.  What is cool is that I was actually decent and felt like I kept up with the class, so thanks Tony, for that.  But - it was way more fun and challenging than the Yoga X dvd, so if you are doing P90X and sick of that workout, I recommend you go check out a real class as it is a better experience overall.  Now I just have to figure out when I can squeeze another class in! I think I may have a new addiction.