Karma Yoga Class! Yay Donation Yoga in Halifax!

It seems that shortly after I wrote my "rant" on there not being enough by donation yoga, my favourite studio- Breathing Space- began offering a weekly donation yoga class! Hmmm- does my blog have power?? lol

In any case- this is fantastic news! This means that my fiancé and I can actually afford weekly yoga classes! WOOT. At 5$ minimum a class it is completely affordable, and all proceeds are being donated to a charity. So it truly is a Karma class. This month's donations will go to the Heart and Stroke Foundation and we began with a heart chakra meditation. 

I've been looking forward to going to this class all week and unfortunately became sick- again. (no worries, I finally made an appointment with my doctor, two and a half months of bruised ribs and sickness off and on is not normal!). We went even though I was sniffling and had just taken an hour nap before yoga to try to save up some energy. I had my kleenex right next to my mat, warned the lady next to me about my sniffles (she was very gracious about it) and was ready. I was counting on this Karma/community class to be more general and easy going.

And it wasn't. Actually it was super duper intense and heated. I barely made it through. I was dripping little tiny beads of sweat droplets onto my toes in forward bends and my mat. The drops were actually surprising- I kept expecting to look up at the ceiling and see a leak! lol. It was an interesting way to lead a community based class, but I do usually love her teaching style and I tried to move beyond my body's physical fatigue and limitations. I didn't quite suceeded- but I tried!

Another aspect of the class that impeded my ability to let go of my expectations of my asana practice was the fact that my mat was so slippery I couldn't even hold a Warrior I. As per my post regarding the catastrophic Tea Tree Oil experience, I washed my mat in the bathtub (and the water turned BROWN... EWW!!!). My at home practices I noticed the mat was slightly more slippery than usual and tonight it was ridiculous which is weird since my mat has been phenomenal so far regarding grip and stick. I guess my next step is to wash it again in the tub and hope the stickyness returns.

Despite sweating and feeling quite ill and catastrophic throughout this Karma class, since I've returned to our apartment I feel better than I have all day. Energized. I'm hoping this yoga class kicked my cold's "bum"! Next week though, if I'm still feeling under the weather we'll definitely be avoiding a heated class. My body just says "NO" to heated yoga.