在过去的十年里，尽管世界人口大都从农村转向了城市，但仍然有很多人和我一样住在乡镇。像我们这种情况，做很多平常事会显得非比寻常，就像去上瑜珈课吧，就很不寻常，由于驾车才能到邻近的体育馆。最近的能开瑜珈馆的城市离我住的地方也要40英里，所以当我决定上瑜珈课时，我最感兴趣的是课程安排，而不是课程的类型。如果下班后我能选择不用等上几个小时我是不会挑剔的。所以我找来电话簿，没有注意其他什么东西，只是看了看课程安排。上面写着：一、三、五 4：00。太好了。我无从知晓...但是黄页广告上显而易见的“Bikram”没有让我想起“高温瑜珈”这一术语，留给我的是个巨大的惊讶。 [瑜伽音乐]
showed up with a comfy pair of sweatpants and a long- sleeved t-shirt. As the woman at the desk was giving me a little orientation information - explaining that the room was heated to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit - I realized that my concept of yoga clothes weren't going to work here. Apparently, I wasn't the first to make this error. Susie told me they had loaners. Now, it's been a while since the last time I wore hot-pants, so when she handed me the little scrap of shorts, I thought, "No way." She said, "Trust me, you'll fit right in."
我穿着一条舒服的长运动裤，一件长袖体恤衫去上课。当前台的女士给我做了一点介绍后——她说房间温度大约有100华氏度——我才意识到，我穿的衣服在这里是不合适的。很明显，我不是第一个犯此类错误的人。苏希告诉我她们可以提供衣物。此刻离我最后一次穿贴身短裤已经有一段时间了，所以当她递给我那么小的短裤时，我想，“决不。”她表示，“相信我，你一定合适。”
Susie continued, giving a few more orientation tips, which started to seem like a set of warnings. "Our first-time students are encouraged to rest whenever you feel you should - kind of take it gradually. The instructors just ask that you do your best to stay in the room for the entire time." What? Were we still talking yoga here? I'd seen pictures. Sure, I might not be able to balance on one leg while holding the other one over my head at my first try, but come on. How hard could it be to stretch as far as I could go and stop there? Why would I get desperate to leave the room? [瑜伽图片]
苏希又多给我做了些介绍，听起来像一些警告。“头一次上课的同学我们鼓励多休息，只要你觉的该休息了，就休息——一点点地慢慢来。教师只会要求你们尽可能全部时间都呆在房间里。”什么？我们正在这里讲瑜珈？我已经看到画面了。肯定，当第一次尝试把一条腿举过头顶时，另一条腿我可能不能保持平衡了，但是要坚持。尽可能的拉伸腿并停在那能有多难啊？为什么我要不顾一切的要离开房间呢？
Her next suggestion: "OK, I see you brought a bottle of water. That's good, but you'll be tempted to drink a lot, and I recommend you just drink sips - not too much at a time." Hmm. What was I getting into here? It sounded like I was facing some kind of ordeal - not what I had in mind at all since I was thinking of yoga as a peaceful, low- impact way just to stretch and keep my aging body flexible and strong.
Once I was dressed in the little bit of shorts, I opened the door to the yoga studio and was met with a rush of hot, stultifying air. Oh goody. I walked to an open space, spread my mat, lay on my back, and understood exactly what she meant by asking me to at least stay in the room. I was already dripping sweat, and we hadn't even begun the class.
她接着建议:“我看到你带来一瓶水。不错，但你可能会想大口大口地喝，我建议你只是小口小口的喝，每次都不要喝太多。”恩，我在这里做什么呢？听起来好像我在经历什么苦难，一点都不是想像的那样，我一直认为瑜珈是一种安静的，没有什么影响的一种锻炼方式，只是去拉伸僵硬的身体并保持身体的柔韧和强壮。
一次，我穿着小短裤，打开瑜珈馆的门，迎面就吹来一股热而闷的空气。天哪！我走到一个空处，铺开垫子，躺在上面，仔细想着她要求我至少要呆在房间里是什么意思。我已经开始流汗，我们还没有开始上课。
Ninety minutes and twice through the 26 poses later, I was indeed still in the room. In the non-competitive, supportive atmosphere I had been completely guided to go to my edge, but not so far that I would be turned off by struggle. In fact, I was exhilarated. I lay on my back at the end, eyes closed in the peaceful, very hot room, and knew I'd be back for more.
用90分钟做完26式2遍后，我确实还在房间里。在非竞争的，支持的氛围下，我完全达到了极限，但我并不会就此停止努力。事实上，我很兴奋。最后我在安静又非常热的房间里躺着，闭着双眼，我知道我还会再来。
