On Monday night, I joined the regulars of Bikram Hot Yoga Queenstown for a lesson with 2011's Bikram world champions Joseph Encinia and Yukari Miwa.
These two are the most flexible human beings I know.
Stretches such as the tortoise, the tiger and the cobra were done with ease and I applaud it.
When owner Peggy Preston invited me along to watch and learn from these two very talented yoga experts, I assumed it was as a spectator.
How wrong was I.
Upon arriving, I was given a mat and a towel and asked/warned to bring in a bottle of water.
Walking into the room, I could see I wasn't really dressed for the occasion in my oversized cotton singlet, but to be honest I expected the room to be a little warmer so I figured I'd be just fine.
Our first instruction was on how to breathe - in through the nose and out of the mouth - this I could do.
Then we began on No 1 of the 26 stretches Mr Encinia took us through and, at this point, it was becoming clear to Miss Miwa she might have a "first timer" on her hands.
Simple things like intertwining my arms like a rope became a task and although the breathing had seemed second-nature before, some of the stretches had me forget.
We went through the standing stretches and, after a while, I could feel the heat was more than enough and could see in the inescapable mirrors my beetroot reflection.
An hour and a-half into it, I had finished 75ml of water.
During the lesson's last standing stretch, my head was getting light and fainting wasn't all that far away; I had to get out.
The rest of the yoga bunch came out to the foyer for air and refreshment, which I thought indicated the end until one kind yoga enthusiast, who could see I wasn't my usual talkative self, reassured me.
"We're halfway, Liv. Nice work."
