I miss hot yoga. You might laugh at me saying that, in this heat, in Abu Dhabi, but there is nothing like stretching and sweating a lot for 90 minutes to clear out the cobwebs. And that is how I came to enter London's Sohot Bikram Yoga studios the other day, when I was in town for a wedding, some sightseeing and, funny enough, a respite from the UAE summer.
I should explain that for the most part yoga in Abu Dhabi, unlike back home in Ottawa, has been largely a female experience, as many Muslim women are less comfortable in the company of men not in the family in a variety of circumstances. Although both the Body Tree and the Abu Dhabi Country Club launched men--only classes last September, and there are a growing number of mixed options out there, in Abu Dhabi my experience has been a lot of classes for women, taught by women. At least the ones I am able to attend.
Anyway, after four years of all these women, you can imagine my surprise upon entering Sohot to find the male instructor Alex standing at the front desk helping process cards, clad only in his Speedos.
