Day 24 = What Not To Eat Before Hot Yoga

Day 24 - April 24, 2010 - 3:45PM with Anastasia

Make sure you practice hot yoga on an empty stomach.  Have your meal 2-3 hours before your practice.  Hydrate well during the day and the night before if you're attending an early morning class.

So I made sure I had my lunch break at noon, so I would have enough sustenance for the 3:45PM class today.  The thing is, I had Chinese food:  fried rice, chicken wings, and dry garlic pork.  I drank mug after mug of water throughout the day.  I thought, perfect!  I'd be all set for my class.

Boy, was I ever wrong on this one.  The thing is, I still felt that Chinese food in my belly 3 hours later.  I knew from Pranayama breathing that it's going to be one hell of a class today.  I'm telling you, I couldn't stretch my belly well enough; it hurt to do so.  It was like a brand new elastic band that hasn't been stretched before!  My monkey mind was now telling me "Uh, oh, how are you going to survive the first back bend, and the Camel (the mother of all back bends)?  Maybe you should just lie down and take it easy."  Yikes!  It was such a brand new sensation for me.  I've never felt that way before.  Oh, by the way, I still don't drink water during class.  Can you imagine if I still did?  My belly would feel like it's carrying a boulder in there!

But you know, as much as I felt so uncomfortable with the heat and the heavy belly sensation, I tried my best to breathe normally, to concentrate, to focus, to adopt the British Bulldog determination in order to overcome this challenge.  My monkey mind was telling me to give up, and take it easy.  Well, what I did was I listened to my body and backed off when necessary.  But the highlight of today's practice was that I was able to execute the Standing Head to Knee quite well.  I concentrated on locking my knee and keeping my upper body relaxed while my leg was extended.  I was able to bend my elbows down for a few seconds.  The room was pretty hot today, and I think this was a huge plus for my flexibility, especially for this pose.

Towards the end of the class, I felt really tired.  I felt pretty weak during the Kapalbhati breathing.  After class, I relished my Emergen-C fortified water like there's no tomorrow, and that shower, oh that shower with Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Castile Liquid Soap felt sooooo gooood!  Yes, Virginia, there's heaven after hell.

PS:  So what to eat before hot yoga?  Lots of fruits, I particularly LOVE oranges and grapefruit.  In hindsight, I should have opted for Spicy Tuna Sushi from Mutsuki-An for lunch.  Next time...