Yogi Drugs

One of those beautiful and frustrating things about Bikram Yoga is that taking care of yourself outside of class makes you feel better inside of class. Yogis, constantly in search of the illusive 'easy class,' often try to stuff extra nutrients and hydration into their meals, (right between the chocolate cake and donuts). It leads us to eat some foods most people would not like. Furthermore, the more of this stuff you eat the more you like it. One day you find yourself enjoying a tasty beverage and when a friend making a Mr. Yuck face asks what in the world that green stuff tastes like (NO, I do NOT want to try it) you think for a second and reply, "Grass!" before realizing that, while an honest answer, this answer makes you sound like a cud-chewing cow. Quickly backpedaling you try, "Salad?"

This is how I frequently find myself discussing with other yogis the glories of green juice. A quick infusion of all the nutrients of a sink of veggies, in a calorie laden, water-rich beverage. While I do not, myself, own a juicer, I fake it by stuffing a bunch of green stuff in a blender with a glass of water. Violá! I am part of the juicing party without having to invest $1000!

A fun activity I have found is discussing juice with my fellow yogis enthusiastically in public. It's not hard to up the enthusiasm to levels only seen when addicts gather around a spoonful of the good stuff. Yogis LOVE their juice. The joy is multiplied when these yogis are also training for the Asana Championships. In case you don't understand the beauty of this conversation, let me write some sample dialogue for you.

Me: Do you find that juicing helps your training?
Yogi A: Yes! I juice almost every morning!
Yogi B: I would love to, but I hate the mess it makes.
Yogi A: But don't you find you feel slower on days you don't juice? I feel sick when I don't.
Me: I bet most of the competitors are juicing...

...and so on. By now, more than a few people are looking at us. I like to have fun with this. If a fly buzzes around me I get extra dramatic about shooing it away.

My Morning Fix