Bikram yoga in the snow

Unless you are living under a rock, you would have heard that it has been snowing here in Paris. It is the first time I have seen Paris under snow and to say it was magical would even be an understatement. This last week has seen me falling in love with Paris in a whole new way. All the cigarette butts and dog poo disappeared and was replaced with a white fluffy blanket. It was beautiful and here are some of my favourite photos.

Carousel at Hotel de Ville

A snowy round-a-bout

A lonely figure walking in the snow

Shhh! Don't tell anyone I'm not velibing home!

The morning after

Even Frosty needs a break

Another unique experience to have in this weather was attending my Bikram Yoga class as it was snowing. For those of you that aren't familiar with this particular type of yoga (let's face it there are so many types these days it's hard to keep up!) Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 poses, done over 90 minutes in a room set at 40°c. So essentially its like doing yoga outside in Australia at the moment.

The idea behind having a heated room is it helps deeper stretching and injury prevention, while reducing stress and tension to the muscles. It also encourages you to sweat (obviously) flushing the toxins out of our body & encouraging us to drink more.

I first tried Bikram Yoga in Melbourne over a year ago, but I wasn't really convinced it was for me. I was quite active in Melbourne, but since moving to Paris I have slowly watched my exercise regime disappear. Its just not something that I saw many people do here. I would see the occasional runner, but I felt the streets of Paris were not really ideal running conditions. I guess the fact that most people catch the metro and have to walk or cycle everywhere keeps people fit, but for me it just wasn't enough. I read another blog of a friend in Paris attending Bikram classes here and I became curious. I really wanted to try it again and when a friend asked if I wanted to go with her, I jumped at the chance.

So we went along to Bikram Yoga Paris and signed up for their 'offre découverte  a 10 day unlimited trial period for €35. It was about 5°c outside, so the temperature change was a bit of a shock to the system, but it wasn't long before we acclimatised and began the class. It was exactly how I remembered it, hot, sweaty and tough, but I loved it. We walked away telling our teacher we were hooked and then and there decided to jump off the new year with a 30 day challenge.

Today marked day 23 in a row and it has been both amazing and incredibly challenging! (I guess they call it a challenge for a reason!) I can definitely feel the difference physically and emotionally. I have more energy, feel less stressed and feel physically stronger. I feel like I have also introduced some desperately needed routine back into my life too. Its like an addiction and I can't handle the thought of missing a day. I have even surprised myself with my motivation! Its also nice to feel warm again and the temperature of the room is a welcome change from the bitter cold temperatures outside. I almost forgot it was winter until one day last week, when I looked out the window to see big fluffy snow flakes. I must admit, it felt pretty surreal and special at the same time.

I will keep you posted on how it goes!

How does everyone else keep fit during winter?!