Bring On The Heat!

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! Ours was definitely eventful. Friday night started out kind of slow. We just went to dinner and rented the movie Brooklyn's finest (I would not recommend it). On Saturday, I woke up went for a run and then went to a hot yoga class (more on that in a sec). Then I spent 4 hours at the mall fighting a gazillion people trying to find an outfit for Eric's company Christmas party. I seriously stressed more about this outfit (and spent 3 more hours shopping for it) than I did about my wedding dress! I ended up going with a sparkly tank top and magenta cardigan. When we got there, people were wearing everything from jeans to dresses. All of that stress for nothing!! You will not believe what he won in the company raffle. An iPad! On Sunday, we went to a Christmas get together form my work. No wardrobe stress there. If I wear anything that isn't made of spandex, I'm dressed up!

So back to the Hot Yoga. There is a Sunstone Yoga studio by our house and I bought a 10 day pass on Friday. I went to a "Fire" class on Friday and an "Earth" class on Saturday. The Fire class was a version of Hatha  yoga performed in a 98.6 degree room. I really liked the class, and was sweating buckets by the end! The only thing I did not like was that they didn't use any music. I have an easier time clearing my mind when there is a little background music. The Earth class was a Vinyasa flow class and there was music. I absolutely loved this class! It was super challenging. Both of the classes were 90 minutes, but they flew by. The Earth class was only 90 degrees so it wasn't quite as hot as the Fire class. I know it sounds crazy, but I actually preferred the higher temperature. I felt like I could really feel the toxins leaving my body, and something about it being that hot really helps you clear your mind and just focus on the pose you are trying to perform. If you're not a yogi, I probably sound crazy right now, but it was an amazing workout. I stole the picture below from the Sunstone Yoga website, but that is really what the room looked like.

[source]

So why hot yoga and not just regular yoga? Don't worry, I am not trying to tell anyone that regular yoga isn't amazing, I still love it and always will. However, hot yoga just takes it to a whole new level.

Here are some added benefits of hot yoga [source]:

• Heavy sweating helps detoxify the body. Detoxifying the body and having a healthy circulatory system are known to have a very positive effect on metabolism.
• Hot yoga increases the output of cells which fight infection.
• Warm muscles burn fat more easily; your muscles also become stronger and more supple from practicing hot yoga. Both of these factors allow you to exercise more effectively and aid in the weight loss process.
• The heated environment is initially very challenging, helping to increase will power and mental strength.
• Practicing hot yoga enables many of your bodily systems and functions - digestion, respiration, endocrine, lymphatic and elimination - to work in harmony. As a result, your appetite will normalize (and likely decrease) and you will more than likely decrease your cravings for unhealthy foods.
• The increased willpower and mental strength that comes from the challenge of practicing yoga in a heated environment can help you maintain your resolve and resist temptation. (such as brownies!)
• Hot yoga can also increase your heart rate more so than regular yoga, which makes it a cardiovascular workout as well.
• The heat and intensity of a hot yoga class also ups your calorie burn.

If these reasons aren't enough, you should try a hot yoga class simply because it is an amazing experience. I have heard of a lot of people that think regular yoga is too slow or not hard enough, but love hot yoga. I can't wait for class tomorrow!

Food for thought:
Have you ever been super stressed over an what to wear to an event?
Have you ever tried hot yoga? If so, what did you think?
How was your weekend?

In health,