So. Much. Sweat. More sweat
than I’d sweated at Disney
World, late afternoon in mid-
July, waiting in an hour-long
line for the teacup ride. More
sweat
than
I’d
sweated
in my first
college
cross
country
meet,
a
2
p.m.
race
in
95-degree
heat, after
which my
teammate had to be driven to
the hospital for heat exhaustion.
If you’ve ever practiced hot
yoga, like the Hot Vinyasa class
at Center For Yoga, you know
exactly about the sweat I’m
talking about.
At first, you welcome the heat
— the 100-degree yoga studio
is dimly lit, a deliciously warm
haven for your frozen body. You
stretch happily on your mat,
feeling your toes thaw out. You
bend into Child’s Pose, sinking
into the floor like a puddle,
letting stressful thoughts slip
away.
Thirty minutes later, you’re
the one slipping away, because
a yoga mat is no match for
the obscene amount of sweat
pouring out of you. In the
classroom, things aren’t so zen
anymore — “Radioactive” by
Imagine Dragons is pumping
through the walls, the guy
next to you has his backside in
your face doing Star Pose, and
you’re kicking yourself for not
bringing a towel to class. As
you hold a never-ending plank
position, adjusting your sweaty
hands, you can’t remember why
you liked the heat in the first
place, or why you thought yoga
was meditative.
You might even wonder, is
hot yoga worth the hype?
Though
hot
yoga
was
introduced to the U.S. relatively
recently, popularized by Bikram
Choudhury (founder of “Bikram
Yoga”) in San Francisco in 1972,
its roots stretch much farther in
history. For centuries, yoga has
been performed in heat out of
necessity. India, the birthplace
of yoga, is notoriously hot —
temperatures average around
100 degrees in the summer
— and with infrequent air
conditioning, heated yoga is a
given. So when Choudhury and
other yoga masters moved to
cooler climates, they noticed
they
were
shivering
while
holding
their
poses.
They
soon brought space heaters to
studios, believing that a heated
room allows muscles to loosen,
blood capillaries to dilate and
toxins to be released.
Today, you can practice yoga
in an 100-plus degree room
almost anywhere in the U.S.
— even if you live in an arctic
climate like Ann Arbor. But as
much as hot yoga enthusiasts
promote the benefits of heat,
there’s reason to be wary of the
practice. In a recent study sent
out by the American Council
on Exercise, researchers were
shocked to find that yoga
participants’ heart rates and
core body temperatures had
skyrocketed after a 90-minute
Bikram Yoga class, with one
man reporting a temperature of
104 degrees and a heart rate in
the 92 percentile of maximum
heart rate.
“The dramatic increases in
heart rate and core temperature
are
alarming
when
you
consider that there is very little
movement, and therefore little
cardiovascular training, going
on during class,” said Emily
Quandt, the leader of the study,
in a press release.
Physicians agree that body
temperatures
above
100
degrees can be classified as
a fever, while a temperature
exceeding
104
degrees,
or
hyperthermia, is considered
life-threatening and requires
immediate medical attention.
The cure for hyperthermia
is intuitive: get to a cooler
place. But in an hour-long or
90-minute continuous class,
with the room temperature set
at 105 degrees, there is really no
reprieve from heat. And though
our bodies fight to keep cool —
hence the buckets of sweat —
our natural tendency is to wipe
the sweat from our face and
hands, which dangerously traps
in even more heat to our bodies.
“I tell my students to never
wipe their faces,” said Bryan
Bennett, a lead instructor at
the Center For Yoga, who met
me for coffee at Elixir Vitae. He
explained that the heat opens
up our pores, allowing not only
cooling sweat but impurities
to be released. When we close
these pores by wiping our
faces, we absorb both the heat
and unhealthy toxins, which
can cause blackheads and skin
irritation.
Bennett cites the heat of hot
yoga for more than just glowing
skin. During his 200 hours of
training, he was taught the
core reason for heated yoga:
like metal, the human body can
bend into any form if enough
heat is applied. The heat of the
room, coupled by the heat built
up in our bodies during an hour-
long class, allows us to stretch
further and breathe deeper
— both keys to a better yoga
practice. Still, Bennett believes
that heat isn’t necessary for
yoga; besides loosening the
body, heat mainly functions as
a distraction.
“In yoga, you’re taught to
resist all reactions,” Bennett
said. “The highest form of
yoga, meditation, is complete
stillness of the body and mind.
When you’re in a hot room,
there’s a new obstacle to hurdle
— you have to accept the sweat,
let it fall, then find your breath
again.”
What
about
the
risks
of
hot
yoga?
“There
have
definitely been people who
are
ill-prepared,”
Bennett
said. “If you’re hungover and
dehydrated, or have a heart
condition, hot yoga is not for
you. Pregnant women shouldn’t
practice either, unless their
bodies are accustomed to the
heat.”
Bennett said with proper
hydration,
patience,
and
practice, hot yoga has the power
to improve muscle strength,
flexibility, physical immunity,
mood
and
mindfulness,
which are all essential to busy
college students. After all, he
explained, yoga poses were
established as a way to loosen
the stiff joints and weary
minds of monks who had been
meditating all day — not too
different from a long night of
homework in the Stacks.
As I listened, I remembered
my own hot yoga experience:
the heat, the sweat, the wishing
it would be over already. I
certainly didn’t feel meditative
during the class, but for the
entire hour, I was focused on
one thing: finishing. For the
first time in days, no thoughts
of school, to-do lists, or dinner
plans had crossed my mind.
Maybe zen comes in sweaty
packages after all.
Middlebrook is sweating more
than Nelly. To send her towels,
email hailharp@umich.edu.
HEALTH COLUMN
Is hot yoga worth it?
HAILEY
MIDDLEBROOK
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 — 5A
‘Murder’ flounders
with cliched premiere
By DANIELLE YACOBSON
Daily Arts Writer
ABC’s “How To Get Away
With Murder” is one psychotic
break away from not getting
away
with
murder at all.
Wrapped
up
in
a
tangled
mess of lies, the
characters
of
Shondaland’s
latest hit return
for the second
mid-season
premiere,
and are more
twisted
than
ever.
While Viola Davis puts on a
performance well-deserving of
another Emmy, the rest of the
mid-season premiere falls victim
to a haunted past that casts a
shadow on the show’s future.
The second season opened
with a shock as Annalise Keating
(Viola Davis, “The Help”) lays
screaming for help in a pool
of her own blood. Loyal fans
took to the #WhoShotAnnalise
hashtag, tweeting predictions
and reactions each week for the
highly
anticipated
Thursday
night
Shonda
extravaganza.
November’s mid-season finale
finally provided some answers,
but in true Shonda Rhimes
fashion, the answers were not
nearly as satisfying as one would
have hoped. Providing little
clarity, Thursday night’s episode
spans six agonizing weeks of
Annalise’s recovery, resurrecting
old demons uncovered at the
shooting as she attempts to save
herself and the Keating team
from murder’s consequences yet
again.
After an electrifying first
season, “How To Get Away With
Murder” is falling into the all-
too-familiar structure of most
murder/crime shows: someone
does something really stupid
(usually murder), and, instead of
coming clean, tries to cover it up.
Eventually, the consequences of
the first really stupid thing don’t
seem that bad compared to the
mess of blood, lies and betrayal
that have accumulated as a
result of the cover-ups (usually
more murders), and an initially
captivating show becomes too
convoluted for its own good.
Slowly, rooting for the characters
who were initially at the wrong
place at the wrong time becomes
harder as “victims of unfortunate
circumstance”
are
stripped
down to “empty villains.” Such
is the fate that plagues Wes
(Alfred Enoch, “Harry Potter”),
one of the Keating Five and the
undeniable center of all the
murderous fallout. One wrong
decision after another, Wes,
the doe-eyed underdog at the
beginning,
has
steadily
lost
relatability with viewers, and
the psychological trauma he is
unable to shake off in the second
mid-season
premiere
further
alienates him. However, Wes is
not only the center of his own
destruction, but of Annalise’s
as well. A complicated back-
story between the two begins
to unfold at the expense of the
rest of the characters, stealing
time from Laurel (Karla Souza,
“Instructions
Not
Included”)
and Frank’s (Charlie Weber,
“90210”) budding relationship
and
Bonnie’s
(Liza
Weil,
“Gilmore Girls”) turn to the
dark side, as flashback-driven
storylines compete for screen
time with those unfolding in
real-time.
Despite
the
decline
in
character and plot development,
“How
To
Get
Away
With
Murder” still shines with a
groundbreaking
performance
from leading lady Viola Davis.
High on painkillers and bleeding
through her raw stitches, Davis is
mesmerizingly disturbed in the
best way. Drug-laced strawberry
ice cream spills down her chin
as she slips into a hallucinogenic
frenzy, and yet she is still able
to pull her shit together to
outsmart everyone in court. Her
pain, however haunting, is what
keeps the ruthless lawyer in the
realm of humanity, allowing the
complexity of her character to
color a show overwhelmed in
unrelatable darkness.
TV REVIEW
B-
How to Get
Away with
Murder
Thursdays
10 p.m.
ABC
ARTIFICIAL EYE
Yeah, I just did it on ‘em.
FILM REVIEW
Unfiltered love in ‘45’
By ANA LUCENA
Daily Arts Writer
In the movie industry, having
the love life of an older couple as
the focus of a film is a welcom-
ing change — a breath of fresh
air from the
slew
of
fun
but short-lived
flings between
young
adults
that flood the
market. Since
unhappy mar-
riages are the
cinematic
norm,
the
authentic portrayal of the suc-
cessful relationship between the
two in “45 Years” made the film
even more endearing.
The film is about Kate (Char-
lotte Rampling, “The Forbid-
den Room”) and Geoff Mercer
(Tom Courtenay, “Dad’s Army”),
an elderly couple planning a
party for their 45th wedding
anniversary. The festivities are
to compensate for their 40th
anniversary
celebration
that
was cancelled due to Geoff’s
unanticipated bypass surgery.
The speed with which the back-
story is introduced through dia-
logue
without
compromising
the linear narrative is remark-
able. Six days before the party,
Geoff receives a letter inform-
ing him that the body of his ex-
lover Katya, from the 1960’s, was
finally discovered in a glacier in
Switzerland, where he last saw
her before she was trapped in a
crevasse. This memory from his
past causes him to lament the
loss of his carefree youth. The
way Kate supports him through
this identity crisis, from encour-
aging him to pick up the German
he lost from his time abroad to
comforting him when he has
difficulties in bed, is touching.
Her sweet nature makes the
intimacy
and
understanding
of the relationship a beautiful
promise to root for. The couple
divides the household chores
around each of their strengths
and sleeping schedules, dem-
onstrating their compassion for
each other as individuals. It’s no
surprise they are still together
after so many years, as the two
have learned how to skillfully
meet each other’s needs.
However,
Kate
becomes
increasingly
upset
as
Geoff
becomes
preoccupied
with
Katya. He goes so far as to show
interest in going back to Switzer-
land and seeing her one last time
before she is buried. The blatant
disregard Geoff has towards the
big celebration of their anniver-
sary illustrates the drama of the
film — Kate restrains Geoff’s
individuality, wanting the two
of them to equally contribute to
their achievements as a couple.
The opposing yet reasonable
desires of both characters solidi-
fies the conflict.
There is not much plot to “45
Years,” but the film paints the
entire world of elderly couples
with excellent care. The per-
formances by Rampling and
Courtenay
are
outstanding,
bringing to life the nuances of
their respective conflicted char-
acters. The use of intertitles to
divide the plot into six distinct
days keeps the plot continually
developing without ever letting
the pacing or structure of the
film feel predictable. It manages
to highlight the film’s realism
without ever breaking its focus
on the fate of the Mercers’ rela-
tionship, which is no easy feat
considering the vivid characters
that populate the protagonists’
lives.
In an age where over 30 per-
cent of marriages end in divorce,
it is heartening to see such a
tender portrayal of enduring
attachment. Not the happy end-
ings of fairy tales, but the actual
commitment of two people who
care for each other and want to
fight the world by each other’s
side in spite of their differences.
Even though it is but one puri-
fying drop in the sea of sleazy
romance films, “45 Years” is
testament to the fact that we
are still capable of entertaining
the elusive concept of true love,
A
45 Years
Michigan
Theater
Artificial Eye
‘Triplets’ come to A2
By KELLY MARTINEK
Daily Arts Writer
On Friday, the University
of Michigan’s Musical Society
will present “The Triplets of
Belleville,”
an event that
combines cin-
ema and live
music into one
unique expe-
rience.
“The Trip-
lets
of
Bel-
leville” is an
animated
film,
written
and
directed
by
Sylvain
Chomet.
The film was
released
in
2003. It tells the story of an old
woman, Madame Souza, who
goes on a journey to rescue her
grandson, a Tour de France
cyclist named Champion, from
the French mafia.
Mark Johnson, UMS senior
programming coordinator, was
a part of the team that brought
this production to the Univer-
sity.
“It’s a film that I saw in its
original release at the Michigan
Theater and I fell in love with,”
Johnson said. “It’s so joyous and
remarkable and artistic. It’s a
universally admired piece of
art.”
Friday’s event is a part of
UMS’s Jazz Series. Audiences
will get to see the film’s unique
animation,
accompanied
by
“Le Terrible Orchestre de Bel-
leville,” an on-stage eight-piece
orchestra performing the film’s
jazz music and sound effects
live. The band is led by Benoit
Charest, the film’s composer.
“It’s really an incredibly spe-
cial opportunity to host the
composer of the film score,
Benoit Charest, in Ann Arbor,”
Johnson said. “It’s exciting,
there’s a certain level of impro-
visation in the music they’re
making. It’s performed in the
style of ‘Le Jazz Hot,’ which is
a style that was popularized in
1920s Paris. It’s period music.”
Charest was nominated for a
2003 Academy Award for Best
Original Song for “Belleville
Rendezvous,” a song from the
film. In a press release, he said
his music has been influenced by
jazz, French singers of the ’50s
and’60s and Frank Zappa.
“There’s two really incredible
features in this presentation,”
said Mallory Schirr, UMS mar-
keting and media relations coor-
dinator. “The animation is just
beautiful, it’s a heartwarming
story, it’s an incredible film. But
I think one of the most unique
experiences
that
you
could
have is being able to watch the
film with the live score. There’s
going to be nothing like having
a live jazz performance right in
front of you as you’re watching
the film.”
Schirr also said she thinks
this unique performance has
many facets that will appeal to
a variety of audience members.
“Even if you’re not into music,
if you’re into movies, if you’re
into film or animation, I think
it’s something that will resonate
really well with people across
the entire University,” she said.
Johnson agreed that the com-
bination of the film and the live
music make this event a unique
experience.
“All of the musicians will be
onstage, performing, visible to
the audience, directly under-
neath the screen,” he said. “It’s
the live film score from the cre-
ator and composer himself, with
hand-picked musicians to play
the parts.”
The Trip-
lets of
Belleville
Fri. February
19, 8 p.m.
Michigan
Theater
$30-$58, $12
or $22 with
Student ID
COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW