Winter has historically been my favorite time of year, but between the on-again-off-again snow, slush, and springtime phases of what seems like a season in crisis, it is beginning to fall in the ranks. There is not enough snow to ski in town, but just enough to twist an ankle running trails. Melts are frequent leaving a blanket of mud, muck and nasty both outside and in– thanks to the dogs’ inability to clean up. Then, there is the age old problem of sunlight. Darkness is pervasive and so are clouds.

This year, I have decided to face the slop and “om” my way through winter. Branching out. Trying new things. Yoga, for starters. A nice indoor activity focused on strength, flexibility and breathing might just help me to beat the winter blahs. Of course, trying to find the right kind of yoga is a challenge in and of itself. Ananda, Anusara, Ashtanga, Bikram, Hatha, Integral, ISHTA, Iyengar, Jivamukti, Kali Ray TriYoga, Kripalu, Kundalini, Power Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Sivananda, Svaroopa, Viniyoga, Vinyasa, White Lotus Yoga. Its exhausting just writing the list. Sifting through each discipline, exploring what they offer and deciding what is best for me as an individual practitioner with my given fitness goals is a overwhelming task. But I am going to give all that are available in my small yoga-crazed mountain town a try.

As a regular runner, daily hiker and occasional cyclist and even more occasional swimmer, I am terrible about stretching and as I have reached my early thirties I am paying for this oversight. I want to find a yoga discipline that is physically challenging while working through my tight areas. Plus, I am not a fan of groovy hipsters who feel the yoga love (i.e. I don’t want to hug my scantily clad, sweat soaked, classmates as we wind down the session in discussions of our respective energies– which, unfortunately, was my first yoga experience years ago).

That being said I took my first crack in a Bikram’s yoga class. Taking place in a 100 degree room, Bikram’s is a hot yoga. Sweaty yoga. According to the Bikram’s Yoga College of India website, “Bikram Yoga’s twenty-six posture exercises systematically move fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as Nature intended. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well-being will automatically follow.” Or, if you are like me, the only thing that will automatically follow might be your breakfast, right out your eye balls. The heat made my head spin, my stomach queasy. I started dripping sweat before the class even started and stayed close to the exit, in case I was overwhelmed and could no longer contain what wanted to flow from my being.

Even still, after reaching fresh, clean, cold, oxygen, when the class ended, I realized that I felt phenomenally good. A little too good. Too clean. It was worrisome. I am not sure my body operates safely under such conditions. I’m from the suburbs, after all, and by this point in my life I have to have a kind of necessary symbiosis with toxins. Perhaps a stiff cocktail in a thickly smoke-infested bar would bring me back to balance, but I resisted. Instead, I went for the best run in a long time. Slow, but my limbs moved freely, painlessly.

I’m going to give Bikram’s another go, then I’m moving on to try Ashtanga. The quest continues.

Kathryn is a Missoula-based writer, editor and recovering field biology underling-- i.e., she did all the dirty work in the worst conditions. Call her a tree-hugger and she'll kick you in the shins. When she is not writing, she's out on the trails running her dogs. Good luck trying to keep up with her.
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