How to
prepare for class?
Please drink lots of water!
The human body is about 60% water and proper hydration will keep cells,
organs, and tissues in top health. For vigorous activities like Hot
Yoga and Power Vinyasa Yoga, it becomes even more important to hydrate
well as you will sweat a lot. That sweat releases minerals and salt,
which must be replaced. Avoid eating up to two hours
before class, but please nourish your body each day
of class. Please arrive 15 minutes before
your scheduled first class to register.
In order to take
class you MUST have:
1. Yoga mat: We
do not rent Yoga mats; we sell latex-free mats.
2. Bath
towel: We
rent towels
3.
Water: We
provide filtered water and sell bottled water
Why
is the room hot?
Any exercise requires our body-temperature
to rise before we start burning calories. The heated room just makes
the 60- or 90-minutes of your exercise that much more efficient. The
heat means we can get into postures more deeply and effectively. Plus,
the benefits of the postures come more quickly. Like thousands before
you, you will find that practicing yoga in the warm room creates a satisfying
and almost addictive feeling of achievement. The
heat also allows:
- Fat
to be burned more effectively; fat
may also be redistributed and burned as energy during the class.
-
A fluid-like stretch promoting for greater range of safe motion
in joints, muscles, and ligaments
-
Capillaries to dilate which helps oxygenate the tissues, muscles, glands
and organs, and eliminate toxins
-
Peripheral circulation to improve due to enhanced perfusion
of extremities
The metabolism
to speed up the breakdown of glucose and fatty acids
-
A strenghtening of willpower, self-control, concentration,
and determination due to the challenging environment
-
A complete cardiovascular workout
-
Detoxification and elimination through the skin, which is the
body's largest elimination organ
-
An improvement in T-cell and immune system
functioning
-
An improvement in nervous system function, allowing
messages to be carried more efficiently to and from the brain
-
Muscles and connective tissues to become more elastic, allowing greater
flexibility while reducing the chance of injury and enhanced
recovery
I
am pregnant. Can I take Hot Yoga classes?
With any specific medical concerns such as pregnancy, please consult
your physician to find out if Hot Yoga is right for you. For to-be-mothers,
our instructors can suggest modified postures that avoid any undue stress
to the belly and spine.
I am not very flexible. Should I do hot yoga?
ABSOLUTELY! In fact, if you believe you are inflexible, Hot Yoga is a
great starting point because the heat of the room helps loosen and lengthen
tissues and muscles, enhance synovial fluid flow between joints. Students
of all fitness levels, and ages are welcome in our classes.
If needed, our certified teachers will help modify postures to suit your
needs as you attend the first few classes. In a yoga studio, there is
absolutely no judgment. In fact, just sit or lie down on your mat and
acclimatize your body to the yoga environment -- even that might challenge
you.
How soon can I see
the benefits and lose weight?
Like any other exercise, the key to improved health and fitness from yoga
lies in consistent, regular practice. Usually, students taking three to
four classes a week will start feeling a physical and mental change within
two months. Within three to four months, students usually start noticing
change in their shape and overall improved fitness levels. For new students,
we'd recommend a blend of 3:1 Hot Hatha to Power Vinyasa Yoga classes
to realign your body and to build muscle strength.
Can I get a good
cardio workout from Hot Yoga and Power Yoga?
YES! Hot Yoga could burn up to 1,000 calories in a 90-minute class*. This
would only be possible if there is a cardio component in Hot Yoga. Just
for comparison, a 140-pound person could burn up to 800 calories if they
ran for 90 minutes consistently at a 5.2-mile-an-hour pace. At a Hot Yoga
class, the same 140-pound person could burn over 900 calories, with a
lot less impact to the joints, bones, and ligaments than the runner. Yes,
you will get a thorough and intense cardiovascular exercise from both
Hot Yoga and Power Vinyasa Yoga classes. Still doubtful? Come in and try
a class! (*Exact caloric burn is specific to each individual.)
I am a runner. Isn't
yoga too slow for me?
Funny you ask! One of the founders of Yoga for Life, Inc., is a former
competitive long-distance runner and soccer player and knows the therapeutic
results Hot Yoga can bring. Isometric exercises like Hot Yoga build overall
strength in every muscle group, particularly for runners. Yoga strengthens
the heart muscle and increases lung capacity, which are essential for
racing endurance. By gaining more flexibility, your stride will become
longer, more fluent and natural. Your legs will get less fatigued, and
you’ll naturally be faster. Body alignment is one of the key benefits
of hot yoga, and this will manifest in better alignment of the feet, ankles,
patella, hips, shoulders and neck. Read a Marathon runner's story and
race time improvement.
