Sweat it out!

11Jan11, 7:15am: Body Pump with Kelvin

12Jan11, 7am: Hot Yoga with Shirley Wong

13Jan11: sick day, tried some meditation, was really good to myself relaxed in bed with my laptop, caught up on blogs, and added captions to some recent photos I had uploaded, felt very relaxed.

14Jan11, 7am: Silent Hot Yoga with Martina Lee

I thought that sweating would make me feel good, which it has. Although, my glands in my neck are still like peach pits, and I think that if I talk too much, I will cough and worsen my sore throat. However, I knew that sweating would help me feel a bit better about myself not only from the perspective of being sick and wanting to heal, but also from the perspective of taking care of myself and maintaining some semblance of a routine. Studies show that mild exercise does nothing to hinder or help an illness like a common cold or flu-like virus, and so why not do it if it makes you feel good? As for the idea of "sweating it out" that is personal and not scientifically supported. I like to sweat, period. It makes me feel great!

Plus, going to yoga or the gym gives me some quiet time, fresh air, and a long hot shower, all of which I crave! Especially when your apartment is approximately 100 square feet in size, you don't want to be cooped up all day and night, even if you are feeling ill. Furthermore, if you haven't gotten this from any of my other posts, I'll elaborate once more. Hong Kong is not a quiet city, it does not go to sleep before midnight, and the Cantonese language, to me, resembles people screaming at each other. Finally, lots of people in this city smoke... still... why? I don't know. Collectively, this does not lend to me staying in one place for too long, as I'm bound to get thoroughly annoyed with one or all three of the aforementioned "attributes" (what's the antonym of that word?) of Hong Kong. Seriously, these things evoke very bad parts of me with which I'd rather not be associated. I'm not sure why I get so angry with loud noise, pollution, smoking, crowds... perhaps that's a great topic for another post. So, while I can technically take a shower at my own apartment, I do love the space and convenience of doing it at the yoga studio, and the other factors... quiet time, fresh air... all come with getting to exercise and meditate a bit during that time. It's a pretty good package deal and part of who I am right now.