I remember signing up for my very first hot yoga class about ten years ago, having no idea what I was getting myself into. I gingerly arrived at the studio with my friend, who was also trying out her first class. We sat on our towels the wrong way, facing the front of the room, even though people were laying down facing the back of the room. The class began, and the next ninety minutes were a whirlwind of new heat induced wonder.
I had to lay down several times, I felt nauseous, and I hadn’t drank enough water prior to class. Parts were painful, parts made me want to faint, and parts felt like they must be doing good things for my body. My friend looked like she was going to die. She opted to forgo the new student special, while I opted to do 30 days for $39 dollars. And my hot yoga adventure began. When I was done and at home I felt fairly sick and had to stay on the couch all day. But I was still glad I had signed up for the month special at the end of class, because I was fairly certain that yoga would change my life. I had no idea how true this would be…
I have done hot yoga off and on for the past decade or more now, and every time I come back to, it I remember why I need it in my life. I always feel better after I visit my hot yoga studio. It’s like my body has been begging me for the attention I will now give it for the next sixty to ninety minutes, depending on which class I’ve decided to take. The room is heated to 105 degrees and there are twenty-six different poses during each class. The first part of class is a series done standing up, warming the body and building standing strength with everything from Eagle pose to Tree pose to Standing Bow pose. The second part of class is all done on the floor and helps with back and core strength. You will be doing many postures that help with your joints, as freshly oxygenated blood rushes back through your body. And class ends with ‘fire breathing’– breathing right from the belly in rapid succession. The connection to breath is very important, and I have often felt many emotions emerging directly through this final exercise, which both grounds you and introduces fresh oxygen into your body.
“…I was fairly certain that yoga would change my life. I had no idea how true this would be…”
There is a simple joy in letting the mind quiet and focusing solely on your body and its ability to sink into a pose. I remember the first time I was able to fully extend into Head-to-Knee pose, I felt a sudden and simple satisfaction knowing my body had finally done the full extension.
Classes may have different instructors, but the poses are always the same. No matter what studio you go to, the structure of a hot yoga class never changes, so in some way, you always feel like you are going home. I can imagine how nice this would be if you moved to a new place. Or if you are visiting a new studio, you can feel like you fit in right away! It also allows you to track your progress in a way you cannot always do in other types of classes.
Ultimately, I believe being in the heated room allows me to get deeper into poses I might not have been able to achieve otherwise. The heat helps loosen the muscles and is less painful than other types of yoga I have tried in the past, like Ashtanga yoga, which was too fast and intense for me. But hot yoga? Even though it’s a sweaty mess, I love it. I now realize I initially felt ill after that first class because of the surge of toxins I was sweating out. If your toxic burden is high, you might feel ill for the first couple of classes, or after classes if you haven’t practiced in awhile. But don’t worry, you will eventually feel great as you keep sweating away the bad guys.
I am incredibly grateful I found hot yoga and never gave up. I might not go for awhile, but every time I return, it is like a welcome home. And finding hot yoga, helped me find other types of yoga I enjoy as well like Vinyassa and Hatha yoga. It even inspired me to go on a yoga retreat in Mexico, something that was a milestone health goal for me in my healing journey. I highly recommend trying out hot yoga. For the mind, for your lifestyle, for your well-being, and for your soul.