Manic Monday

Following my action packed Sunday,  I continued Monday in the same vein...

...starting with a Bikram Yoga class at noon

Have I told you that my studio includes your mat and towel in the cost for every class?  So handy not having to think about them and carrying on your bike etc.  Big thumbs up!

I was going to go straight from yoga to a whiskey tasting class in General Horseplay, but tbh that was probably a little ambitious of me.  I was (happily, it must be said) exhausted after class, plus I also was a seriously hot sweaty mess.  I went home and jumped straight in the pool and then had the longest loveliest outdoor shower.

I chilled out for the afternoon until approx. 5.30pm when I hopped on my bike and headed to the bookstore for a book signing and reading by Meg Cabot - of her new book No Judgements.  

She was FABULOUS!  Entertaining, charming and informative.  

I bought the book and am looking forward to reading it on the beach, on my mini vacation in Key Largo this weekend!  I do love a signed book :)

I ended another wonderful day in Paradise with dinner in Sister Noodle House on Roosevelt.

I got pork dumplings - which came out like bao buns - and a seaweed salad.  I really, really liked it.  Different to any other food I have eaten since arriving to Key West, and VERY different to anything you can get in Ireland.  Nice change of pace!  We'll be back.

Back to Bikram

"You'll never regret going to a bikram class"

- Enid Bebbington, my twin sister

For some time now I have felt Bikram calling to me.  

What that translates to is; I haven't been sleeping great.  My mind has been racing, working overtime for various reasons (all pure silliness of course, but you try persuade yourself that at 3am.  Best of luck to you  with it!).   And in terms of body strength and suppleness, I feel like I am losing muscle mass and my body and core is becoming weaker.  Clearly I need bikram bad! And I want it. I know how incredible it is, and how amazing I feel after it.

Today, I did something about it.

I don't think I can say anything about bikram that hasn't been said before.  It's cliched but it's true - 90 minutes in a hot room, no phone, no distraction.  Just you, listening to the teacher and moving your body accordingly.  The heat is wonderful.  It helps you stretch further than you have ever stretched before.  Flexibility and stretching is something I have always struggled with, even back in my competitive swimming days I was never flexible, but now, that studio heat helps me push myself further and better than anything in the past (yep that includes all the land training I did in my teens as part of my swimming training schedule). And it's that feeling of satisfaction and pride, that you personally, have done something new and better that brings you back to class. It's a different feeling, one that I am not familiar with, pushing myself alone, not in competition with anyone except myself.

But it's the mental results I like the best.  Sometimes I wonder is it really that easy?  Put away your phone, concentrate on thinking about just your moves and your breathing, walk out of that room 90 minutes later with a clear mind that lasts for days until your next class.  

Is it really that easy??  It seems so.

So here I am.  Signed up for a month of classes in the cutest and Southernmost yoga studio in the United States. 

I can't wait!