Sunday, June 17, 2012

Get Sweating


What is hot yoga? What can I expect from my first attempt at hot yoga?
  
Hot yoga, also known as bikram yoga, can be defined as: "a form of yoga in which traditional exercises are preformed at high temperature and humidity.” The temperature for hot yoga is usually between 35 and 40 degrees Celsius. 

Photo by Andrew Kalet
Hot yoga has become increasingly popular, and is now one of the most “trendy” fitness activities of the moment. Women (mostly) dressed in full lululemon get up go absolutely gaga for hot yoga, preaching the benefits of hot yoga to anyone and everyone who will listen.

I am not writing this post to mock these women; I myself am one of these women. I love hot yoga; I love everything about how it makes me feel, what I do not love is the price tag that comes along with the dedication.

My understanding is that most people who have not tried hot yoga are wary to do so. This blog serves to inform you of what you can expect when engaging in the practice of hot yoga. I am no expert myself, I have gone to only about 10 classes (because on the budget of a student it is out of my price range) but I want to continue going as often as I can.

Ok, so here it is. The list of expectations for your first hot yoga class:

1.  SWEAT! No joke, you will leave the class absolutely soaked in your own sweat. Make sure you bring a change of clothes to your hot yoga class, as well as a towel to take a shower immediately after your class has ended. Your body temperature will cool immediately after exiting the studio so it is nice to be able to take a quick shower.
2
Photo by Photozou
. Don't push yourself! Like any athletic endeavor, getting better at your yoga practice takes time and effort. People look at most yoga poses and expect that they should be able to master these poses right out of the gates. You’re wrong. If it were easy, it wouldn’t be a great workout. My boyfriend fell victim to this in his first class. He wasn’t willing to swallow his ego and take a rest and about half way through the class he felt so light headed he had to leave the room because he felt like he was about to pass out. I laughed secretly to myself about finally finding something athletic that I could beat him at.
3. You will get better! This goes hand in hand with the above point… don’t push yourself too hard, because you will get better and notice improvements regularly. The learning curve for hot yoga is quick, after only a few practices I noticed huge improvement in my ability. This is the same for many others I spoke to who are just starting out as hot yogis.
4.  Take yoga as a “religion” lightly! Some classes emphasize the spirituality of yoga so much that beginners get scared off. There is something so spooky about how serious some yogi’s take their practice. Take everything as lightly or as intensely as you want. Don’t think that just because you are practicing hot yoga you now need to live and breathe it as a philosophy, simply go, enjoy yourself, and get a great workout.

I hope these 4 tips were helpful. I am only writing them because I want those who are uncomfortable with trying hot yoga to be able to reap the benefits. Gook luck beginner hot yogis…



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