When it comes to exercise, there are some of us who have been blessed with the motivation and endurance to hop on the treadmill or go for the daily morning run. There are also those of us who are perfectly content with the smooth flow of a relaxing yoga session. Whatever your physical activity of choice may be, you can't dispute that a good stretch to some calming music is an ideal choice to relieve some extra stress that may soon weigh you down.
Admittedly, I am a new but proud yoga lover with my fair share of exposure to different varieties (and yes there are many) of yoga sessions, all initiated by a yoga-crazed friend of mine back home. Through my exposure to this craft, I had heard yoga lovers rave about the phenomenon that is hot yoga, which, as I soon found out at Down Dog Hot Yoga in Evanston, literally lives up to its name.
What is hot yoga:
According to Down Dog Hot Yoga Philosophy, hot yoga is the practice of yoga in a super hot studio, an average of 85-90 degrees. It allows you to get a better stretch while providing an intense workout that burns fat (500-1,000 calories per class), increases your metabolism and tones every muscle of the body. Hot yoga comes in many variations at Down Dog, but the focus is the Vinyasa Flow.
Intrigued but a little intimidated by this new endeavor, I dragged along two of my friends one Saturday morning to drop in on a class. Equipped with towels, mats and water bottles filled to the rim, we were lead into a small studio and met by the noticeably warm temperature and beaming instructor who jumped right into the Vinyasa Flow stretches. At first the warmth felt kind of nice in comparison to the brisk Evanston air. A few minutes more, though, and we experienced the heavy intakes of breath and the sweat, which are rather uncommon when doing your standard yoga poses. The instructor moved through the stretches with ease and simplicity, making each exercise bearable and adaptable whether you were a beginner or on the brink of expert. But regardless of yoga expertise, were practically melting, dripping from head to toe as we tried to keep up. As a reward to our overheated, drenched bodies we ended the Vinyasa Flow with a few much-needed minutes of complete relaxation, letting go of all tension and, for a second, the weight of unfinished work waiting anxiously on our desks.
Despite the hour of discomfort, I must say the feeling afterwards was amazing, much like that after a long run or a great cardio workout. It was a feeling of being completely refreshed and cleansed that seemed to last all day. For me, the class perfectly combined the relaxation that yoga naturally brings and the calorie burning properties of a cardio workout, which surprisingly left me a little sore the morning after. Down Dog classes are ideal for first-timers overall, offering variations of exercises ranging from easy to tough, fitting with each student's physical capabilities.
A lot of exercise routines and classes claim to deliver instant results but a few live up to these claims, and I don’t exaggerate when I say that hot yoga is without a doubt one of those few. Whether you’re looking to be in your best shape by the holidays, burn off those extra calories from midnight snacks stashed in your dorm, or simply relax and stretch, what could be better than a hot room with a smooth flow of easy-to-do exercises, especially after daily walks against the unrelenting wind and cold? So, for all you die-hard cardio lovers and daily runners sneering at us hauling around rolled up, colorful mats, take time to reconsider as the work piles and the brutal, looming winter of Evanston creep up.