Hot Yoga Hits the Road
A guest blog post from our hot yoga teacher Carly Miller who, as an avid adventure traveler, cannot hit the road without knowing where her next hot yoga fix is coming from....here's why.
I’m the type of person who needs physical activity.
Sanity, balance, happiness, clarity, tolerance for rush hour - it all goes out the window if I’m not moving my body. It’s more than just the endorphin rush I crave. It’s an existential desire to exceed my limitations. I find my high in hot yoga and adventure travel.
SPIRITUAL MEETS PHYSICAL...
Hot yoga hits all my high notes: concerning the physical, but working out a lot more than my body. The heat is cranked, lights bright, eyes open, wall-to-wall mirrors, sweat dripping, bodies steaming to a constant stream of instructions. The real challenge is mental; it's an adventure.
WHY HOT? WELL, WHY NOT?
Practicing yoga in a ferociously heated room facilitates deeper stretch, detox, mental stamina, and healing. Plus, being in the mirror, sweaty and uncomfortable, brings everyone to the same level. Accomplishments and pretensions melt away; every body is the same warm clay, ready to mold.
THE CHALLENGE: Staying Present
Hot yoga is not an escape. You have to stay present. Like adventure travel, you might have everything planned but then, you find nothing but surprises. The same 26 poses; never routine. The same Appalachian Trail; different terrain daily.
After 11 years of hot yoga practice, I’m still surprised at how different. Some days I feel strong and focused, other days it’s an emotional roller coaster. The postures are the real mirrors, showing that my world is created by me - I control my own outcomes.
Exactly as I create my path on the road to adventure.
Sometimes it's scary to face yourself for 90 minutes, drenched in imperfections, dealing with big issues, having nowhere to hide. Sweaty, uncomfortable, breathing loud, glowing.
Hot yoga has a lot in common with cliff diving in Costa Rica.
“THE WAY YOU DO ANYTHING IS THE WAY YOU DO EVERYTHING”
Adventure travel has an element of turning inward, where I find my reserve of strength (which sometimes means having the strength to give myself a break, quiet my thoughts, or change old habits).
If I can control my reactions in the hot yoga room, I can navigate the road to anywhere.
HOT YOGA TRAVELS WITH ME
Although I have a home studio in Brooklyn and here at Riverflow Yoga in Lambertville, traveling has given me a great reason to practice everywhere! I've sought out classes in Texas, California (while I WOOFed on a vineyard/AKA medical marijuana farm), Canada, Italy (hot yoga in Italian - belllissima), and Hawaii ( I walked on lava; almost as hot as hot yoga).
Having hot yoga in my travel plans always lets me come home to myself.
Here's to the wandering path, and having the courage to tread outside your comfort zone.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Reader Comments (4)
It is pretty amazing how Hot Yoga has become a "home base" so to speak. My husband and I went to the Adirondacks last year and plan to return this year. The first thing I did was look to see if there was Hot Yoga studio anywhere. When my husband asked where I was looking for us to stay I told him "the place closest to the Hot Yoga studio and of course pet friendly" lol. A favorite quote is "not all those who wander are lost" J R.R. Tolkien and when you find a Hot Yoga studio you are home for 90 minutes. Keep on wandering!!
Can't wait for your book to be published listing all the great adventurous travel destinations with hot yoga studio nearby...now wouldn't that be a little slice of heaven...
It's true--I do the same thing whenever I travel, June! And it is a way to find yourself home for 90 minutes, whether you're in Santa Fe, Oxford, or Guadalajara.
Now, the Appalachian Trail--that's a challenge I'd be up for. Hiking from studio to studio, of course, to keep my hamstrings and knees from getting utterly destroyed!
Exciting post, Carly. A great testimony of how hot yoga is truly a part of your wonderful being.