This feeling is rare since getting pregnant over two years ago. I’m back to my pre-pregnancy weight and certain areas of my body have been restored to their pre-preggers state, others (like my arms) are in better shape and still others are not quite so … well, as I would like them to be.

However, I’ve noticed a trend lately. No matter how I feel in yoga class — tired, energized, strong, weak, whatever — I feel pretty. Which quite frankly is odd.

I’m usually drenched in sweat with my hair pulled back in a rough manner. By mid-class, strands of my hair have fallen out of whatever mechanism I’ve used to keep it out of my face and they’re falling in all sorts of ways (not that supposed-to-look-messy way). Not to mention, since it is Bikram Yoga, I tend to wear shorts and a tank (feminine looking wife beaters usually) to stay cool. These expose areas I try not to show when elsewhere. Especially my arms above my elbows because I have keratosis pilaris there which I tend to pick when stressed out. But because my arms are now shapely, this doesn’t bother me as much.

Maybe it’s the intensity of my workout or the sweat or the sheer fortitude it takes to endure and grow in a Bikram Yoga class, but for whatever reason, I like what I see in the mirror there.

When I get home though, my attitude changes. Sometimes it’s because of a commercial. Sometimes it’s the daunting tasks I have waiting for me like laundry or work or dishes. Sometimes it’s a conversation I have with someone afterwards.

I need to find a way to perpetuate that feeling — without the oodles of sweat!