Embrace Your Destiny: Try Hot Yoga

Outside yoga on the beach

Hot yoga as a therapy for me was never a consideration for me. I only knew about it because daughter Liz started did some in college and I paid for it. I could see very positive benefits in her. 

Heat weakens me! All my limbs feel like jelly. Liz keep after me to try it and I was curious. She eased all my concerns so I decided to try it. Why not try? I trusted Liz. 

Me with walker at Hot Yoga Asheville

What is hot yoga? It sounds awful.

Bikram Hot Yoga isn’t just any hot yoga. The room is preheated to 104 degrees with 40% humidity. Infrared lights provide the heat and they have healing properties. Surprisingly, I was able to tolerate this heat and do the poses. I work up a good sweat which is good for the body. 

The sequence and order of the poses seems to be perfect for me. Each pose builds on the previous. Plus, the Bikram philosophy works for me. It says, “Just do your best. Give it 100% effort and that is good enough.”  There are twenty six postures and two breathing exercises It’s ninety minutes of moving, breathing, meditation.

Adi Westerman, owner and teacher 

I’m sorry, but I still don’t understand why this yoga rather than any of the others?

Repetition! Nothing changes day to day except the teacher. The same 26  postures done in the same order, for the same amount of time with the same dialogue. Also, the pace is slow enough for me to transition poses without falling or getting tangled up. 

For the balance poses, I hold onto something. (Hot Yoga Asheville even bought me a walker!) I noticed improvements in how I felt, and how I looked quickly. My skin looked brighter and I had a lingering calm feeling.

Hot Yoga Asheville

I started going three to four times a week. Gradually I increased to going daily. I had been tracking headaches, indigestion, constipation among other things. I’ve eliminated medications and the hateful carpel tunnel wrist sleeve I wore every night. Best of all, the chronic pain disappeared.

Sounds like you were addicted! How did it help with walking?

I was addicted to the point that we set up our own studio at home when Covid 19 shut everything down. Our hot room doesn’t get quite as hot all the time, but it’s still effective. YouTube videos with the dialogue do a good job. 

Yoga helped walking most by freeing the foot, ankle and knee joints. I started feeling my foot roll into a step. The right ankle joint had been almost frozen for a long time. After years of yoga and other therapies I’m beginning to feel a nice stride developing.

My home studio

The yoga community helped me find healing people and therapies. Gradually, I met other yogis who were practicing acupuncture, massage, and juicing. One by one, I experimented and added. 

Everything was better, but walking really improved when I got serious about my gym workout. Joining Gold’s Gym that embraces Silver Sneakers was the key. Using the savings from not paying for a gym membership I pay a trainer. I’ve been getting lessons weekly for several years.

I suppose you are going to enlighten us about your gym work and strength training next.

That’s right. I have lots to talk about there too. But first, check out this blog  post that captures my experience with hot yoga:

https://judymanagesms.blogspot.com/2019/11/embrace-journey-find-your-elixer.html

Of course the whole blog is available at judymanagesms.blogspot.com