When I first imagined Bikram Yoga, I pictured a solemn yogi posing in a warm room. Apparently I am bad at vividly imagining what 90 minutes of 26 different yoga positions in 105 degree heat with 40 percent humidity feels like. 

Well, it feels like your body is screaming at you to drink water and seek air conditioning quickly. But, as I eyed the door during my first Bikram class yesterday at a local Bikram Studio the instructor called me out and told me that even if I couldn't make it (survive) the different poses, I could just lie there because the heat still impacts you. Boy does it. I lied down on my yoga mat and towel for the last 15 or so minutes of the class, drenched in sweat and desperate for water (which, I was drinking but the more water you drink, the more nauseous you get), and my heart was beating as if I was running on a treadmill. 

When the class began, I was feeling warm, but enjoying the stretches and breathing exercises, although I have to admit I grew dizzy about 15 minutes into the class. It had been awhile since I had done regular yoga so the difficult balance poses seemed even more difficult that I remembered them to be. And because of the pressing heat, they all felt like I was balancing at a dead sprint. My heart was throbbing in my chest so I opened my mouth to get some air but the instructor again corrected me and said "Alex, close your mouth and breathe through your nose. It's part of the process and it's better for you." So I did.

I didn't have to lie down until we began doing floor poses, which are significantly easier than balance poses, but just sitting up from a lying down pose made me start to black out and prepare to faint. 

I remember staring at the clock - 10 minutes left of class - and making a mental note never to take Bikram yoga again. I finished up the last few poses in class and hobbled out into the comfortably chilly lobby sore, dehydrated and dizzy.

I still felt horribly nauseous and was beginning to get a bad headache, which the instructor said was normal. I waited an hour for the nausea to subside and was instantly starving. (I read that Bikram allows someone to burn between 500 and 1250 calories depending on the intensity)

Once I showered and ate, I contemplated giving it another shot. After all, isn't every new workout tricky the first time you try it? But I still can't shake that horrible feeling of the heat pressing down on me as I struggled to breathe through my nose and looked around for a place to politely throw up. I have to admit though, my muscles felt toned and my body felt relaxed (albeit beat) the morning after.

So anyone who is daring or has had some recent yoga experience, I would encourage them to try it. A lot of the men and women in the class love it. Some have even done two classes in a row in one day (God bless them and their stamina) but if you are faint of heart (literally) and can't handle temperatures above 100 degrees, you might want to stick with a different workout.

Namaste.

If you were anywhere near a social media site last night while the Grammys were on, you would have seen mass reactions to Chris Brown ranging from the more sympathetic "how can Rhianna be OK with him being there?" to "I'd do anything to be with Chris Brown - I'd let him beat me."

I paused when I saw that.

Society has obviously become more lax when it comes to what is tolerated in music, television, movies and society. In the 60s, I can only assume that women would do more than just bat an eyelash if a guy - or another girl for that matter - called her a bitch, a whore, or any other derogatory term. Now, women are called bitches and sluts in every other rap song that is produced and by their friends or family members.

It is apparent to me everyday that, casually, an increasing amount of violent an derogatory terms are slipped into the colloquial vernacular. 

So, does putting more language and references to domestic violence out there make people accept it more; therefore, make people more complacent about it and make them not fight back? Or does it just demonstrate that the issue is no longer taboo in society and people are more familiar with it? 

Think about it, friends casually say 'I'm gonna kill you,' to one another if someone loses a friend's ipod or is late to pick a friend up, etc. Obviously, they don't (usually) literally mean "I am going to murder you," but that's now part of casual conversation. 

Will the same thing happen with language surrounding rape or domestic violence soon? 

According to the National Organization for Women's statistics, there are 4.8 million intimate partner-related physical assaults and rapes every year. Fewer than 20 percent of battered women sought medical treatment following an injury. 

We know it is prevalent and a lot of people aren't seeking treatment, so why does everyone joke about it?

While browsing the internet for information to support this blog post, I actually found a petition site titled "Tell Twitter: Domestic violence is not a joke" First of all, it is sad that a petition has to be created for that reason.  But it is deplorable that #reasonstobeatyourgirlfriend was trending on Twitter a few months ago. The petition, which has 8,634 signatures was a response to that.

I just can't fathom how people think things like domestic violence or sexual assaults are laughing matters when so many people have to paint coverup on their bodies to cover up black and blues or confront an angry fist after work everyday. 

Recently at UConn, my alma mater, the university's television station, UCTV, aired a "sketch comedy" (In quotes because I do not find it funny)  that depicted a young woman running away from a rapist through the vast college campus. She attempts to call for help on the code blue phone kiosks that are stationed around campus and the emergency system responds to her cries for help by calling her a "cock-gobbler" and "howler monkey bitch" who is "crying rape." In the end, the man chasing her catches up to her and strangles her.

I just have one question: what were they thinking? 

I vividly remember walking home from work or class across campus and being worried that something could happen. I wasn't paranoid or anything but I walked home from work at 1 a.m. sometimes. Sexual assault on college campus is a real concern - just look at the Uniform Crime Reports that the state police have and count the number of sexual assaults. Keep in mind, those are only the ones that are reported. 

But really, why would anything like that ever be considered funny?

Back to domestic violence.

Buzzfeed.com aggregated 25 upsetting reactions to Chris Brown at the Grammys, which is basically comprised of girls proclaiming that he can beat them any day and they would put up with it because it is Chris Brown. Yeah, he's a celebrity who has a smooth voice and a lot of money but other than that, he's just a guy who beat up his (now former) girlfriend, Rhianna.

 And speaking of Rhianna, she starred in Eminem's "love the way you lie" video - all about domestic violence - after photos were released of her battered face, allegedly the result of Chris Brown's fist.

I am usually the first one to roll my eyes at being politically correct and taking something seriously that was clearly meant to be a joke. But no matter how deeply I try to laugh this off, I just can't. It is sad that anyone can joke about such an issue, but perhaps the silver lining is that if they can joke about it, maybe that means they haven't experienced it. 

And maybe it is good that the omnipresence of issues like rape and domestic violence in movies, music and popular culture is allowing the taboo surrounding those things to dissolve and encouraging people that it's OK to seek help, but it shouldn't be sending the message that it is just a part of life and women (or men) shouldn't speak out about it. 

I don't care who you are - whether you are poor, rich, sober, drunk, a family member, a friend, a boyfriend or a husband or someone else entirely - If I am physically, emotionally or verbally abused, I will be gone faster than you can open your mouth to issue an apology that I never wanted to hear. I hope everyone can adopt this attitude, seek help for themselves and stop laughing about issues like domestic violence and rape.

Remember, if you are in a bad spot there is help out there: Information and resources for domestic violence/ sexual abuse

With the burgeoning trend of people ditching cable in favor of Netflix, fewer people likely had the opportunity to watch the Super Bowl on their own big screens this year. But that didn't seem to pose a problem because for the first year, NBC streamed the big game live over the internet.

According to the New York Times, NBC reported that more than 2.1 million people (legally) streamed Super Bowl XLVI over the internet. The television network used Omniture and mDialog to collect their statistics.

The Times article reported that "the live stream represented the most-watched single-game sports event ever online."

The online stream, which I watched instead of hitting the power button on the remote control, offered a chat box, multiple camera angles and the ability to pause the game and watch multiple commercials a row.

Unless you have a 72 inch laptop, the game won't be larger than life in your living room, but will the perks of watching the game online trump seeing an almost-life size Tom Brady on screen? 

I think that as years go by (and as television fills up with more mind-numbing reality shows and even more viewers ditch cable in favor of Netlifx) more people will view the big game on the internet.

I can see a trend starting here and a good one at that. If internet viewing is more successful, perhaps NBC will add even more widgets to the online stream. Maybe a eventually there will be a running Storify of everything everyone is saying about the teams in the game - but that might be over the top. (It's the journalist in me.)

For next year's Super Bowl, if NBC is gracious enough to stream the game online again, I recommend that viewing venue. It provides more of an in-depth look at the game, more excitement and increased community interaction (not just with the dude next to you yelling "WHOOOOO!"). The only downfall is the laptop size. Tom Brady will not appear life-size on your screen.