The Yoga rules

By Bea Scott

So Valentine's has come and gone, and from hearts, flowers and candy, my focus has now flown to somewhere else. Specifically that somewhere, or more succinctly, something else is getting healthy.

Yes, the struggle to get into my Valentine's number has left me with the desire for a more toned body. That, and my uncontrollable urges to stuff all the valentines chocolate in my mouth!:p I must confess though, that I really don't enjoy the gym. Lifting weights make me feel like a sweaty, rather unattractive, and I'll say it again, sweaty male. Running on the treadmill doesn't make me think of pounds lost, but rather, it leaves me pondering why I'm wasting precious time running nowhere. All those heavy gym machines just scare me into thinking I'll lose an arm or a limb in some crazy and bizarre freak accident!

What I've discovered about myself is that I hold this fascination for bizarre body contortions. Another self-discovery is I relish activities that don't really seem like exercise but end up as being exercise anyway. With these 2 loves combined, I've gotten it into my head that the way for me to lose the unwanted jiggle is to get into Bikram Yoga.

For the unfamiliar, Bikram is a series of 26 Yoga Positions done in a heated room (about 105 degrees Fahrenheit). From what I've seen of it, its relatively simple (its just those 26 positions over and over!), its fun, its feminine ( I did not witness any male grunting), and it makes you sweat like crazy! (which in my book equals to losing weight!). Another fact that helped a lot was when I saw all these people doing Bikram, call me biased but does their skin have this uncanny glow? And do all of them seem, leaner, taller and generally more fit? One other thing that did not escape me was that they all seemed to carry this inner tranquility in them! I was, and still am so jealous!

All this talk about Bikram, and Yoga, and relaxation, of course, left me drooling for a vacation. One that involved all these elements and more! Thanks to trusty luxurylink, I found a clearer vision for my ultimate dream va-cay (for now anyway!). They have these amazing vacations to India where I imagine will be filled to the brim with all the things I just mentioned, with a wonderful resort and spa to boot! AAAHHHH...heaven!I'll probably go nuts with the amazing scenery,the Taj Mahal,the colorful costumes, the gorgeous saris, those glass bangles, the exotic trinkets!!! And let's not even go to the food. India, is after all known for its vegetarian delights- the garlic flavored Naan, the Papadums, the curry! Sheer gastronomic delights even for a picky eat like myself!

But wait! I'm getting ahead of myself. I thought I wanted to get into Bikram to lose weight! And here I am, dreaming about the food. First things first, better find myself a Bikram gym fast, so I can Yoga away all the yummy Indian food I'm definitely looking into consuming anyway!

Bea Scott is in-love with life & secretly dreams of traveling to Hawaii and wear a pink grass skirt! Her current crusade is to limit paper wastage and has since been bugging her officemates and friends to stop printing unnecessarily.

Read more of her views at her blog Romancing Nature