So do I really want to go barefoot?

Of course I do, but as I want this blog to be about all things yog I want to investigae this further. As a beginner, and from what I've seen so far I guess the norm is to do yoga barefoot? Personally I like to take a pair of socks in with me in case the teacher asks us to do stretches in pairs - I don't think it's fair to put your feet on someone if you've come straight from the office without showering. And what about the things you could catch from the gym floor?! Anyway, one of my teachers doesn't mind socks, while the other makes you take them off, which is no big deal. The obvious reason for this is that socks are slippy so you're less stable in the poses, though there may well be other benefits to going sockless that I'm unaware of (other than having nice free toes!). And of course, whenever there's even the slightest need for something, someone goes and invents a product - yoga shoes - with nonslip soles. I've never actually seen anyone in Spain wear these, and I'd feel a bit silly if I were the only one in class, but secretly I think they seem like quite a good idea.

Here are some options that caught my fancy:

The Vibram 5 fingers shoe, around 80 dollars - love the whole Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles thing! (You can see Tim Ferrisse's review here, though he's not talking about the yoga ones).

And Nike's Kalma which is not as cool (in my humble opinion):

Anticipation or dread?

This evening I have my second Vinyasa yoga class, and truth be told I’m a bit scared. You see, before the first class a week or so ago I had no idea what I was in for. On arrival at El Horno I innocently asked why my super-toned classmates all had towels with them. I soon found out; to mop up the buckets of sweat that you will produce when you do an hour and a half of highly dynamic yoga in a heated room! As we warmed up the teacher told me that if I felt faint I could stop for a while until I felt ready to start again. Of course my pride forced me to stick to the rhythm of the class, even if I couldn’t do half the moves properly! However, as this time I know what’s in for me I’m actually feeling a bit apprehensive, what if I can’t keep up?! Well at least I’m a bit better prepared this time, I have my towel, and I realised that you can’t do Vinyasa in those cottony yoga pants as they just stick to the sweat and get all uncomfortable – so the other day I went to the Corte Inglés sports department and bought myself some of those tiny Lycra shorts I swore I’d never be seen dead in. They are however a necessity, at least for ‘glowing’ old me – these Nikes promise to wick away perspiration and keep you feeling fresh and cool. And they’re actually super comfy, I even ended up wearing them to clean my house on Saturday. Anyway, I’ll let you know how I get on this evening :-)