3 Lessons I Learned From My First Hot Yoga Class
I Went To Hot Yoga. It Was Terrible.
Moving made drops of sweat manifest along my skin. I was prepared to take a few Vinyasas and binds. I had no way of knowing just how hot a hot yoga studio could really be. There was going to be a moment in class where the heat would get to be too much. I didn’t know what that moment would be, but in the 98 degrees and 40% humidity, I knew it was coming.
I picked a spot towards the back of the studio. As spaces started to fill up, a few people started dribbling water on their yoga towels. I was totally lost. Should I be doing that? I wondered.
1. Stretching is supposed to be uncomfortable.
I needed every drop of my water, it turned out, to put back in my body. I never want to be the girl that tells people to do yoga. There’s no one-size-fix-all solution to the world’s problems, and if there was, it wouldn’t be going to a hot yoga class (which will really cost both time and money).
I do believe that second only to breathing, eating, and sleeping, stretching is probably the most important thing a human body can do. That said, you can only get out of a stretch what you put into it. Stretching shouldn’t hurt, but if you don’t feel anything at all, you’re probably not doing it right.
What I didn’t know at the time is that blood vessels widen in high temperatures, so workout out in heat increases your flexibility. If you find yourself in a 90-degree room, it would pay to sit there and sweat it out.
2. Intermediate plateau is more painful than any downward dog (even on your tiptoes).
The beginning of class was marked by us chanting three Oms in unison. I felt the sound as much as I heard it. Each one vibrated in my chest, and the energy almost lifted me out of my seat. For about five minutes after that, I felt great. I told myself that I had done the right thing, pushing myself to go to this class after work on a Friday.
Then, next to me, people were moving like they had stepped out of a Marvel movie. A few people were kicking themselves up into handstands and adding in extra pushups between poses. The instructor told us to stand up on our tiptoes in downward dog.
With all the blood in my body rushing to my head, I thought about how most of my practice up had come from Yoga with Adrienne's videos. During YouTube workouts, I more and more have found my attention span wanders. My phone will go off or my dog will start barking, and it’s too easy to walk away.
We all know the feeling of picking up something new — a new instrument, or a new language, or a new hobby, and being excellent at it, for a couple of months. Then intermediate plateau hits, and all your excitement fizzles out.
Not only was I unable to make that excuse, but I was also confronted with my gap in experience. I could survive a downward dog on my tiptoes if this made me stronger.
3. Don’t neglect yourself, under any circumstances.
My peak moment of self-connection came when the instructor told us to point our fingertips up, holding our hands out like we were crossing guards. I flicked my fingertips up, and immediately I felt queasy. The floor looked like it was rippling.
I wondered what would happen if I passed out, or if I should try and make a break for the door. Then I put my hands back down, and the feeling almost magically went away. If my body wasn’t going to be able to handle it, I wasn’t going to do it.
We’re all afraid of embarrassing ourselves. After class ended, I found out that the woman next to me hadn’t been to a hot yoga class in five years. I walked out of hot yoga feeling accomplished. I was terrible, which turns out to be a great feeling.
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