Hello my friends. Vacation if you’re lucky enough to have it can be sort of an odd time. On the one hand, it’s so great to let loose and let go of all the daily routines. On the other, without those routines you can lose your sense of balance. For me, this has definitely been true with exercise in the past. Whenever I’ve left home, I’ve pretty much taken it as a good opportunity to not do much of anything. But within a short while, I don’t feel good. Then, my back starts to hurt. Then, my knees start to hurt. Anyone gone through this?

I started yoga after Marielle was born and though I’m not able to go as much as I like, it certainly has changed the way I feel about myself. First, I find it completely relaxing and more and more I’m able to follow the breathing and tune everything out. Second, even though I’m sure I don’t look like I did pre-baby, I actually feel better about myself. So when we hit Paris, I  knew yoga was probably the solution for me.

After a visit to a pricey — and somewhat creepy looking — gym with an empty bar area, this I knew to be true, and I wandered into a Bikram yoga studio.

Boy, was I in for a rude awakening. After 10 minutes, I was dying to leave. The instructor took one look at me and said “you can’t leave.” Then, he told me not to wipe the sweat of my face. Harsh! I said to myself: “I’m never doing this again.” I kept looking at the clock and those 90 minutes were among the longest I’ve had.

By the end of the class — as you’ll see in the video — I was red as a tomato. But later that day, I felt better than ever. I went back once, and then I brought Marc when he came. Now, that was funny. Marc isn’t flexible. He can’t touch his toes, and he sticks to the same gym routine. The instructor told him, in French, not to touch the wall and also said he couldn’t leave when he tried to — so funny. But Marc got hooked too.

So we’ve found something new as a couple and it’s kind of cool. I’ve now done four classes, and I’m hoping to continue when we get back home. I think Bikram is a super form of exercise for busy moms because it totally recharges your batteries – you sweat out your worries and emerge cleansed, refreshed and stronger.

In today’s video, I walk through how I ended up doing Bikram yoga and offer some tips for working out while on vacation. While I think it’s good to shake things up, I know I feel better for staying in the game.

Watch my video for more on how I found Bikram, and hoping you have a marvelous day!

xo Melissa