Friday.  Day off work.  9:30 am class.

I walked into the warm studio at 9:20.  It was a blustery cold west coast kind of day - one where it is hard to get out of bed.  The studio was the perfect place to be.  It was packed.  I lay my mat down in the only space available, third row with maybe 10 cm of space on either side of me.  This was definitely not what I was used to.  I normally come to the early morning 6 am classes, where a busy class is at most 30 people.  I was looking forward to it - a challenge.  I knew it would be humid and hot but I was ready for it or so I thought.

The class started out strong.  I kept my focus until 2nd set of Triangle and then I faded.  My hips were killing me.  Sweat was running down in streams, pooling in my eyes.  My mouth tasted like pure garlic from the spinach salad I'd had for dinner the night before.  By the time we got to the floor I was done for and ecstatic for the 2 minutes of Savasana.  It ended way too quickly.

Wind Removing Pose.  I felt like a wet noodle.  I could not, under any circumstance, feel the pinching in my hips.  The pulling exhausted my arms and I craved the next Savasana.

Spine Strengthening Series was where it all went out the window.  Laying on my stomach brought back those feelings from the first class I'd ever taken 10 months ago.  I felt nauseous and dizzy.  My sweat tasted salty, most days it just tastes like water.  I started breathing through my mouth - I was gasping for air - it took every little bit of determination and discipline that I had to close my mouth and breathe deeply through my nose.

Turtle pose, which I normally adore, took every last bit of energy out of me.  Camel pose.  I got as far as coming up on my knees, then keeled forward thinking I was going to vomit on my towel.  Rabbit pose.  I made  a very half assed attempt and came out early both times.  I took a desperate break during Head to Knee with Stretching Pose - felt a little guilty while people around me were rounding their spines, stretching their arms - I honestly can't remember the last time I sat out a posture.  I barely had enough core strength to keep my back straight in Spine Twist and flopped down on my mat like a dead fish after the final breathing.

It had been months and months since I'd had a class like that.  I walked out of the heat and back into the the blustery wind and the rain.  I was shaky and weak but was so glad I'd made it through.