Hot Yoga

This past weekend the instructor who taught yoga in the park handed out her card for a free class at the studio she teaches at. I decided that I was going to take the class and get a 20 days for $20 pass so that I could try to go a few times a week.  So on Wednesday I biked 6 miles to the studio.  I arrived a couple minutes before the class started along with another woman.  The instructor was out near the front desk and said "Hurry up! Class is about to start."  Which I thought was kind of rude (more how she said it).  The lady at the front desk asked if I needed a towel and mat and I said yes and she gave them to me.  Then as I'm entereing the class she handed me a bottle of water, even though i had my own bottle.  As I enter the class the heat immediately hit me! I also noticed there were a ton of people and they were all completely silent laying or sitting criss cross with their eyes closed.  About 5 minutes into the class I was completely soaked with sweat.  My tank top was wet all over, my capris were soaked and the towel on my mat looked like it was thrown in a pool and then taken out.  About 30 minutes into the 90 minutes class the instructor had to go over to one of the students and have her sit down with her legs out cause she looked like she was going to pass out.  I would feel light headed in any pose where we had to lean our head back.  So finally I sat in child's pose for awhile to feel better.  At one point I went to get a sip of water from my water bottle and the instuctor was like "NO! Don't drink in the middle of a pose!"  Then about an hour in to the class I couldn't take it anymore, I started to get my mat and leave and the instuctor said "I don't want you to leave, you need to stay and get used to the heat.  Just sit with your legs out."  That kind of scared me into staying.  But it kind of made me mad and think she was a little too nazi like for me.  I thought I was going to pass out like a million times and the whole time all I could think about was how hot and uncomfortable I was.  I am pretty sure the room was 115 degrees not even exaggerating. 
So the other yoga studio I went to just let you borrow a mat and not pay anything, this place has you pay for renting a mat and towel.  And the bottle of water that she just gave to me and didn't even ask if I wanted it? Ya, I had to pay for that too! Needless to say I did not get the 20 day pass.  And the six mile bike ride home actually felt really great in the 90 degree heat because I was soaked and the breeze cooled me down.
So that yoga experience kind of scared me and I could totally see how somebody who hadn't ever done yoga again would be totally turned off by an experience like that.  I'll stick to warm yoga or just regular ol' room temperature yoga for now on :)