Warm Words from Cool Students
You run, bike, kayak, rock climb, work out, and you age (if you're lucky)...and man, are your muscles tight. Get ready; hot yoga is going to make you flexible again, no matter how tight you are or how much you've neglected or abused your aching body.
As a practitioner and teacher, I have seen firsthand the changes in the minds and bodies of people who before had simply accepted their limitations Physical obstacles of all kinds just seem to be melted into submission by the 105-degree heat and 40 humidity.
People report relief from sore backs, tight shoulders, bad knees, bad moods, extra pounds,jangled nerves, just about every ailment is affected in some way. Appreciative students gush over their newfound health and energy levels.
From my 12+ years of personal experience, and from the experiences shared with me over the years by hundreds of my students, I offer these 8 top reasons to look into it for yourself.
1. Wake Up Your Body and Appreciate the Soreness
After their first class, new students can almost expect to feel sore - in yoga we say this is your body waking up. The more classes you attend, the more you improve...and the more that soreness subsides, For some, energy levels soar after just one class and that keeps students curious enough to come back again. For this reason, many studios offer the second class free....so you have an incentive to come back and see if what you felt was repeatable,
2. Acclimate to Extreme Weather
People who really hate the heat, hate to sweat and can't stand summer, still seem to love the extreme heat of the hot yoga room. Often, they acclimate to the heat inside the yoga room and suddenly find that they are able to withstand the heat outside...even those hot, sweat subway commutes become more manageable.
3. Run Faster and More Easily
Runners are a particular group who see immediate benefits. Many say nothing compares to their runner's high...except hot yoga. One avid marathon runner had just run the Chicago Marathon and then a week later had corrective bladder surgery, and was told she could not run for 4 weeks. Hot yoga filled that gap and " truly saved my sanity," she noted.
No matter how much they warm up, runners can be inflexible and often get sidelined with injuries. Warming and loosening those tight hamstrings not only can prevents runners' injuries, but makes running more efficient and overall more enjoyable.
4. Lose The Weight and Change Your Shape
People who lose a lot of weight - perhaps 20- pound or more - know that it's not just about losing body fat; what you really want is to reshape your body so clothes fit better. Hot yoga is filled with poses specifically designed to whittle away a waistline, shape thighs and calves, and create shapely arms. Students who come convinced it will be their first and last class are often the ones who get hooked upon seelng a change in the way their jeans fit after just one hot yoga session.
5. Rediscover Your Youth
It's never too late and you're never too old to have a new body and a new lease on life.
Many people aged 60 and 70-plus start hot yoga not knowing what to expect. Many have conditions of older age including a history of surgeries from knee replacement to rotator cuff surgery to hip replacement to digestive surgeries, Oftentimes they are on medications for high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid conditions, acid reflux. Three months, three times a week and many report improvements in all their conditions. Some even report that they are transformed into who they used to be, and how they used to feel when they were younger. And their friends and family are quick to notice.
6. The Hot Yoga Cure?
There is some anecdotal evidence as to the healing potential of hot yoga, even for illnesses that remain a mystery to modern medicine.
One mother of four young daughters, a professional business owner and community volunteer.who leads a very active and somewhat hectic life, was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain and tenderness; even a hug proved painful. This student reported that hot yoga was the only thing that successfully controlled her pain and allowed her to function in her daily life.
Another hot yoga student who actively struggled with an eating disorder, who had been hospitalized and had seen every kind of specialist and counselor with little results, noted that her regular hot yoga practice somehow managed to keep at bay those surges of pain and anxiety which had resulted in her eating disorder and ruled her life for so many years.
How does this happen exactly? That part remains unclear; but the thousands of students who live with chronic conditions and function normally because of hot yoga, wouldn't be without their regular practice.
7. Easing the stress
Who isn't experiencing some sort of stress at work...or at the unemployment line? From interns to senior corporate executives, people everywhere need to find stress relief, both physically and mentally. Entire office staffs are starting to do hot yoga together, three times a week, as a consistent practice. Employers take note: many practitioners report increased focus and productivity; better teamwork; faster business results; and less job burnout.
8. Workaholic Attitudes Transformed
Workaholic attitudes threaten partnerships, families, and marriages. Channeling that energy into the challenge of hot yoga provides a common ground for a very special shared activity, where both partners- even complete family members of all ages - experience their own personal benefits and yet share a special common ground. The challenging sequence seems to suit the workaholic personality beautifully, turning the focus inward towards personal discovery.
Some results and experiences students have shared with me over the years are nothing short of remarkable. From 'Aha!" transformations to subtle changes that come on so quietly they are hardly noticed until the change is complete, just about everyone feels something in hot yoga. Love it or hate it, you can;t ignore it.
Welcome to the multitude of benefits of hot yoga. After your first class, you'll feel the changes in your body...after your 100th class, you'll feel the changes in your life.
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