New York has a trip-hammer vitality which drives you insane with restlessness if you have no inner stabilizer.

Today I've for the first time in my life tried something called "Hot Yoga". It's basically power-yoga (on an high level), performed in a room where the temperature is about 40-50 degrees (Celsius). Why, you say? Well, the theory goes like this: 

1. At this hot temperature the muscles in your body are more flexible, so you can get into the different poses with more power but without injuring the muscles. 

2. Heat increases the pulse and the body burns more calories in its efforts to stay cool.

3. When you sweat (as you really do!), the body exposes of toxins, both on an surface level (it cleans out smog and dirt from your pores) and on an organic level (it carries wastes from your kidneys and liver).

4. When your'e put in such an challenging environment, your focus on the task itself will be stronger.

For my sake, the theory makes sense. 'Cause I've never felt so good in my entire life (no offense, Trond). My body was pumping of energy and spirit, and I felt so strong and healthy and renewed. For a moment it almost felt like I had been reborn. But as you probably understand, this was after the class. The class itself was a nightmare. Mostly because I wasn't prepared. I brought long-legged trousers and a long-sleeved sweater, while some of the others was wearing nothing but a little bikini. If it wasn't enough that I was dripping away, the poses was so hard on my muscles that I after a while got so exhausted that I almost fainted. Which was super-embarassing. But the teacher was very comprehending since it was my first time, and told me to just lay down till I was better, and after a while I was back on track. She told me that if the body can't do a pose, don't force it to. Yoga is not about hurting your body and pushing yourself, is about learning to know your body and to strengthen and improve it. This is why yoga is so important. 

Traditionally, all forms of yoga is reserved only for the rich. Because it's so freaking expensive. But then this yoga studio, called "Yoga to the People", came along. They lived by the belief that yoga was so good for people, that it should be made possible for everyone to practice and enjoy it. So they built up a studio out of volunteer work, and set the price to 10$ for each class (plus extra costs for water, towel, mat rent). But you don't even have to pay that, if you can't afford it. They think yoga is so important that even the poorest of the poor should be allowed to practice it. 

If you read this, and lives in either New York, Berkeley, San Francisco or Seattle, I REALLY encourage you to try it. They have lots of different types of yoga, in many locations. So if you thought Hot Yoga sounded scary, you could always try something else. Check out their website for more info: http://www.yogatothepeople.com/