The hottest thing in Toronto

I started doing hot yoga here - it's basically yoga in a studio where the temperature is cranked up so that you're sweating even before you go into your first upward dog. I think I may enjoy hot yoga because it's one of the rare occasions when I'm not cold here. Hot yoga is all the rage in the T-dot so I can't help but wonder whether others are into it for the same reason.

Some of the participants in my class seem hard core - one of them takes the breathing instructions so seriously that she sounds like a steam-powered train throughout the entire 45-minute ordeal. And while I have it's-not-flip-flop-weather-yet-so-i-can't-be-bothered-to-get-a-pedi feet, other participants sport toenails painted in the same pink colors as their Lycra yoga tank tops, leaving me convinced that such matches are no coincidence.

I stick to simple goals for each hot yoga class, which have progressed from 'Do not faint on the first day of class' to 'Don't fall loudly on the mat while doing the bridge pose'. For the next class, my goal will be not to cheat and to actually close my eyes when the instructor says to do so. (I currently prefer to squint and observe how others are doing instead).

One day, perhaps I can have a goal of actually attempting to clear my mind when the instructor says to do so. As a hot yoga virgin, I currently feel it's still acceptable for me to use this time to debate whether I should get a Tim Hortons ham-and-cheese or egg salad sandwich for lunch.