Hot Yoga Secrets and AHA Moments

To paraphrase the old TV show, I've Got A Hot Yoga Secret:

The journey of Hot yoga is mapped out for you in each hot yoga class, but still, you have to take the twists and turns yourself. It's a winding road, but then, no one can go too far traveling in a straight line (thank you, Little Prince). Did you think yoga was going to be soft, and gentle, all New-Age cuddly and comfortable? Wake up sweetheart. You're doing hot yoga now.

The AHA moments of hot yoga begin at the end of your comfort zone.

When you've been doing yoga (40 years)  and teaching yoga (30 years) for some time, you find some pretty cool inroads. And crossroads.

Here are some of my personal yoga AHA moments:

• Secret #1: Yoga is Backwards. Instead of aging into an aching and injured version of yourself - especially after years of running, playing tennis, even doing ballet - hot yoga actually makes you feel younger as you age. More flexible. More ahhhhh, yes! Aging backwards? Yes, you can.
• Secret #2: Yoga is a Do-Over. You are NOT too old to begin. Hot Yoga can rebuild your entire body, from bones to skin, whenever you start. I mean it - bones to skin. It's never too late for a do-over.
• Secret #3: Yoga, Sex and Money: all good:  When people ask me if they should try Vinyasa or Kundalini or Hanging from the Ceiling Yoga, I say sure, have at it; yoga is like sex and money: it's all good. But if the heat of hot yoga has gotten under your skin, you'll always return to hot yoga. Hot yoga is....different. Nothing against other hatha yoga....but nothing quite duplicates how you feel after hot yoga. Some people call it "cleansed." or "energized" or "sore but not sorry!" I say it's like coming home, to yourself. Hot 26 Yoga has special secrets for anti-aging, anti-aching, and feeling amazing. Once you get the hot knack, you'll never go back.

Three Tips about Hot Yoga..or, what makes hot yoga so hot?

1. The Hot Yoga Freeze:  In hot yoga, you "freeze” in each pose; when you release, oxygenated blood floods in. That's one reason hot yoga feels so amazing. No other yoga form has this align-hold-release formula. It's called the Tourniquet Effect, or Natural Human Traction.
2.  You CAN Have It All:  You don't have to be expert, advanced or even experienced at hot yoga. Beginners can get even MORE benefits. All you have to do is follow the teacher's instructions, to the best of your ability. And sometimes, beginners are more open to listening more closely. When you give 100% effort,  you get 100% benefit. You may not look like that Gumby beside you, but you still get all the benefits - maybe even more. How is that possible? Some people are more flexible than others. You don't know if Gumby is really pushing himself or just being lazy. It's the push that counts. Looking good? Not important.
3. Nothing Is Really Something: Total rest is vital after each pose. We so want to be "doing something" to validate ourselves. Here's a secret you may be ready to hear: activity does NOT equal rewards. Sometimes, when you get out of your own way and let your body take over, you get even more benefits. That's why in hot yoga, you stand or lie in Savasana between the poses. Push, relax. Squeeze, release. Give all, then stay still. You'll get to feel that certain something of nothingness but only after you've really given it everything you've got - and only hot yoga encourages you to do that in the yoga room.

Got any hot yoga secrets of your own to share? COMMENT HERE

Comments

[JaneC]

I would agree with this...and here's why...I was on my 28th day of hot yoga---last Thursday evening--- (currently enrolled in Riverflow's Teacher Training) and I had been coasting through this new 30 day challenge when I hit a NEW challenge within this 30 day challenge. It was dizziness and a physical sensation that I was about to 'puke'. Gross, I know. But that was what was going on. And, I was so taken aback. My mind was come on... you...dizzy now, you're ridding, you're at the end. But, I needed to back off. And here's the reason (or part of the reason), I had given 100% to each pose or had gone to a new edge (out of my comfort zone within the pose) resulting in new sensations. I finished the 30 day challenge on Saturday. But here's something realized. That being when I 'think' I have it all figured out, I don't... and when I risk going deeper in my poses a new experience happens. It was scary to feel that..I felt I had regressed but I hadn't...it was a new level of awareness within my body, within my heart. Interesting and very very cool for a Hot Yogi.

[Laura]

What I think when I read your post, Jane, is that your body must have been getting rid of something different for the first time, because your practice reached a new level. Congrats on that accomplishment (in addition to completing another challenge)!

[JaneC]

Laura..I like that...I didn't view it that way. Thanks for the insight. I appreciate it. Namaste