Bikram Yoga?

   A while ago, a fellow volunteer asked me if I had ever tried Bikram Yoga back in the States.  I hadn’t, but another volunteer said, “No, but I’ve done yoga in Benin and it’s practically the same thing.”  That got me thinking…it IS basically the same thing.  Week after week, as we do our marathon training sessions, we arrive back at the house drenched in sweat.  You probably think that it would be normal to be like that after an intense work out, but I have done intense work outs many times at home, both in the gym and outside, and never have I ever been so completely soaking wet.   I am talking; someone just dumped a bucket of water over us, drenched.  Craig actually wrings out his shirt several times afterwards and can water our garden with what comes out (but he doesn’t).  I get salt in my eyes when I lay down to do crunches afterwards WITH a hat on (that is also completely drenched) and after a good 20 minutes of cool-down.  All of our fingers and hands get wrinkly like we just got out of a bath, and we drink enough water to fuel a caravan of camels.  Part of this is because we aren’t early birds, so we do these workouts in the late morning.  The other part of it is the intense humidity and heat.  And it’s the “cool season” right now.

    After one of our training sessions, Craig and I got to talking about how the next two years of our lives will probably be the healthiest that we have ever, and will ever, live.  Sure the lack of regulations for cars/motos and their exhaust may cut this down a little, but it’s no biggie.  And this is not just because we’re less stressed, happier, have more time, are doing something we enjoy, have fulfilling jobs, getting the liberty of creativity and entrepreneurship in our tasks, or ride our bikes everywhere.  It’s also because the foods that are available to us, are largely, all organic and fresh with no chemicals, preservatives, pesticides, or anything else unnatural.  We cook most of our own meals, cutting out the chance of what we intake being dowsed in palm oil, but instead, cook with Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  We are boiling our water, filtering it, and then drinking it, making it probably better quality than anything we can find in the States, in addition to having a half-glass of wine every other night or so with dinner. 

    But the biggest thing that links all of those others together is the time that we make for exercise and how it makes us feel afterwards.  Craig and I spent quite a bit of time, money, energy, and effort back home making sure that our food was completely organic and trying out different detoxes to rid our bodies from any toxins to remain as healthy as possible.  They were difficult, expensive, time consuming, and torture (for us), for the most part.  By living in Benin, we sweat so much here (and therefore, drink so much water) and eat healthy things that there is no possible way that there are any toxins left hiding around our fat cells that haven’t been flushed out by our new lifestyle.  After a 5-mile run down a beautiful dirt road in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by lush green fields, we not only feel calm in our mind and spirit, but our body feels rejuvenated.  Bikram yoga?  It’s got nothing on living as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Benin.