Oh hot yoga, I love you so. I found you at the right moment and I never want to let you go!
Growing up as an athlete, exercise always played a significant role in my life. Long nights and early mornings spent at practices and weekends filled with tournaments, I felt at home with the smell of indoor turf and the buzzing of ice rinks. During a short break from my sport in November of 2023, I found myself at a crossroads without the camaraderie and connection of a team and no structured form of movement. A huge chunk of my identity was missing and I felt lost.
After a week or two of wallowing, I made it my mission to find a form of exercise to go full throttle in to try and find myself again. From running and biking to pilates, HIIT, and barre, the plethora of options and price tags felt daunting.
On one blustery Thursday in December, I stumbled into a hot yoga class. The humidity caressed me as I rolled out my mat, unaware of the journey I would be taking. After the first flow sequence, I was hooked.
Hot yoga challenged me mentally and physically; I was bending in ways I couldn’t imagine before, breathing through discomfort, pushing myself to go further, and being forced to slow my racing mind and body. Leaving the studio, I felt this euphoric sensation of being so connected with myself. I knew I could never stop chasing that high.
So often today, we correlate exercise with a way to change our body composition, fixating on everything we dislike about ourselves. Why do we obsess over exercises that can change us if we only have one body, one soul, and one life? Once we find a movement, activity, or hobby that makes us feel more ourselves, that’s when we will see the biggest changes.
Hot yoga, thank you for teaching me that movement is truly the best medicine out there.
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