The Moaner.

I am still rockin' my hot yoga 5 days a week and lovin' it. I had a brief lapse in class attendance due to conflicting social engagements but I have returned with a vengeance - and although I won't hit my 20 class quota this month I am still going to give myself a little bit of LuLu for beating last month's record 16 classes. I think that's fair.

I've been trying to work on blocking out the other people in the room - with marginal success. I have stopped looking around the room so much and try only to look at myself or at nothing - but there is still one thing that can make my blood boil -

* The sign on the door says "This is a SILENT room" - so when people come barging in the room having a full-on conversation while everyone is lying in shavasana it makes me want to hit them. This might be the kickboxer in me coming out, but seriously most time I have to force myself not to sit straight up and glare at them like they were stealing my cookies.

The other day the woman in front of me kept flicking her toes together while we were in shavasana - I call her the fidgiter. After a few moments though I was able to drown out the sound of her toes flicking together by my head - gross. I made sure to get a good look at her and her mat so that I can stay away next time.

I really think that yoga has been helping me relax, among many other things. I feel better and I don't stress as much and I sleep great. But last night I was schooled by the woman 2 mats over on yoga-enjoyment. I call her the moaner.

It started during salutations with an "ahhhhhhhhhh" on the exhale. A bit much, but not entirely absurd. By the time the warrior series was over, her exhales had become more like "oooooohhhhhhh" - still a little weird, but maybe she was getting in some good stretches.  The weirdest parts came during pigeon and final shavasana... the moans that ensued would rival any climax scene from your favorite porn film. The humming of the "mmmMMMmmm" had me laughing so hard on the inside I had to bolt out of the room after class so I could full on laugh.

I love my hot yoga. But apparently not as much as The Moaner.

- Brianne