I Sweat Like A Pig! Or Is It Like A Dog?

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I sweat like a pig. You’re probably thinking – that is obvious – everyone sweats like a pig in Bikram Yoga class! And that is true. But I sweat like a pig outside of class! Whenever my body gets just a little bit warm, it’s like a floodgate has opened and the sweat just pours out. And I mean out of every pore!

I never used to sweat before I started Bikram – not even a dancer’s glow. I could be in the rainforest with temperatures in the 90s and 99% humidity, and I was fresh as a daisy. But no more. In some ways, this is good. Sweating is a healthy way to rid the body of toxins, and it is the best and most natural way to cool down. But in other ways, it is not so good. Particularly when you are in an important meeting in a slightly warm room and you can feel the sweat dripping down your back. That can be kind of embarrassing.

I think the reason for this change is that I actually sweat like a dog. Not just any dog, but Pavlov’s dog. In case you skipped Psych-101, here is the quick and dirty according to Wikipedia and Simply Psychology. Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist who studied classical conditioning in the 1890s. His best known work centered on salivation in dogs. In his experiments, Pavlov rang a bell and then gave the dog food. After several repetitions, the dogs started to salivate when they heard the bell, even if no food was offered to them. In other words, the dogs started to associate the bell with food and their bodies would respond as such. I think this has happened to me. My body now responds to heat like it is in Bikram yoga class, even if there isn’t a studio around for miles!

This all occurred to me as my family and I were hiking on vacation over the holidays. It was in the 80s and fairly humid but not too hot really. All was fine until we started ascending a hill. I felt my body heating up and then all of a sudden, the flood, just like in class. Nobody else on the hike had even broken a sweat! I said to my family, “I am sweating like a pig! Why are none of you sweating?” They said, “That sounds like a blog post”  So here we are…

Fellow yogis, do you sweat like a pig outside of class?

14 thoughts on “I Sweat Like A Pig! Or Is It Like A Dog?”

    • I sweat so much I could spin in a circle in your front yard and water your lawn! When I get through with a round of golf riding in a cart in the 100 degree 90% humidity wearing beige cargo shorts my son says it looks like I just got out of a wet boat. I sweat like a hooker in a confessional. I have ever since I worked outside which is from age 15 to my retirement at age 52. Yet I still sweat at golf and fishing and walking and sometimes just stepping out in the heat in the middle of the day and it runs off me like I poured a cup of water on my head. My hat, shirts, shorts, socks all end up ‘soaked’ and later have salt rings everywhere. I have to pull my boxer briefs off like a condom, they roll off after a round of golf. This is really getting old at age 65 but there is nothing I can do but go back up to my cabin in the mountains at 9000 feet where the humidity when it’s raining is only 38% and live up there. But my family still lives in this arm pit called Dallas/Fort Worth Texas so I gotta stick around. Now I know some of you are still on the floor laughing and that hurts my feelings. I’m a sensitive grandfather(lol). Glad you got a laugh out of it. If anyone has any solutions? You’ll become a millionaire over night. Scuba is the next thing that keeps me cool but finding a dive partner at 65 is just touch much less since I’m retired others can’t go whenever they want.
      Sorry but I had to bitch a bit and now I have to wipe the sweat off my laptop keyboard.
      Cya

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      • Good to know I am not alone. I just read an article that says the fitter you are the more you sweat so maybe this is all good news! LOL! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

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  3. I was thinking this exact same thing! I went outside away from the aircon for 10 mins and my back was drenched. I’m from Australia which is in summer at the moment. It’s embarassing when it happens around strangers or colleagues; I never know what they think of me but I know im healthy and this is now a normal part of life.
    Thanks for the blog. I’m going to read more on Pavlov’s theory, sounds interesting!

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  5. Oh yes! I sweat so easily! Walking across campus to class in the summer? My back was drenched! I keep telling myself that it’s a good thing my body is so good at cooling itself off…. Right?

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