The Bathing Elephant Goddess: Warmth

When starting the experiment I envisioned myself working out in the gym and going to hot yoga classes to do more vigorous exercise. Doing vigorous exercise while sick was against my intuition. I did increase my activity level though. 6 out of the 8 days that I worked during the experiment I made time for a brisk walk during my lunch break. Some days I only had time for 15 minutes of walking quickly but others I had 30. On two days when I was not working I went on long walks, about two hours each. One day I taught a fast paced yoga class to friends which served as a work out for me as well. I also made time to go to a kundilini class as well as an ashtanga class with Richard Freeman. Both classes were very vigorous. The most enlightening thing about the exercise portion of my experiment was realizing that I have been drawn to appropriate exercise for kapha for several years. While I enjoy relaxing and restorative yoga classes, my yoga preference has always been kundilini which tends to be physically challenging and creates sweat. I also love heated yoga. Particularly, heated fast moving yoga. The experiment reinforced the fact that I need to make time for such practices. Keeping myself warm was easy during the experiment because the weather was very warm for many of the days in the past two weeks. I made sure to get time in the sun to heat myself up in that way. I also went in a sauna one time. The main thing I have done to keep warm is increase my intake of warm fluids. I have had an aversion to really cold water for a long time, but I often find myself drinking it because it is what is available. I usually drink room temperature water. During the experiment I started drinking significantly more luke warm and hot water. This seemed to help control my temperature and keep me more comfortable. It also felt soothing to my throat and chest and greatly improved my digestion. I have started drinking a cup of warm or hot water as soon as I wake up which instantly induce a bowel movement. This is a practice that I see myself keeping up with.