Back in February of this year, I was looking for new ways to keep myself healthy, and also have fun. I was told by a friend to try hot yoga, and so I decided to give it a go.
Going to my first class, I was nervous. I was worried I would stick out like a sore thumb. I had done yoga before, but if you don’t know what hot yoga is, it can be quite different from regular yoga.
Hot yoga is doing yoga exercises while in a hot room, and the room can be as hot as 115 degrees.
Yes, I know, that’s hot – why would anyone want to do that to themselves? If you’ve ever been in a sauna and your body is just loose and relaxed, well….it’s like that, but you’re doing yoga. Your muscles are relaxed so you feel like you can really move through the moves during class.
Although it’s hard during the class because you are sweating a lot, the feeling after you workout is fantastic. You’re relaxed and all the stress you had before you entered the hot room is gone.
After that one class, I have been going to hot yoga consistently for quite some time, and I love it. Anytime I was stressed about school, I would go to yoga. If I were worried about something going on in my life, I would go to yoga. If I wanted to relax and relieve some body pain, I would go to yoga.
Any problem I had in my life, yoga would help.
If you’re looking for a different type of workout, I would recommend yoga. If you’re looking for specifics and in the East Lansing area, here are some classes at East Lansing Hot Yoga that I would recommend:
- Candle Lit/ Hot Slow Burn
If you’re looking for an easy, but also slightly challenging yoga class that will work out all types of areas in the body, but not leave you feeling completely dead, then I would recommend taking this class. It’s a very neutral class for everyone no matter your level of fitness.
- Balance and Strength
This class is a very relaxing, low-energy class that will stretch every area of your body, and helps with sore muscles. If you have trouble breathing during exercises or have tight muscles, this class helped me learn how to keep breathing and correctly warm up muscles properly. If you’re looking for a relaxed, slow-paced class, this one’s for you.
- Hot Hiit & Core or Arms, Abs, and Assets
Both of these are very similar classes, but Hot Hiit and Core focuses more on cardio and doing exercises at a fast pace, while Arms, Abs and Assets are a lot of reps and focuses on working those 3 parts of the body. They are both more challenging classes, and I would not recommend these to be someone’s first class unless they regularly work out. But, if you’re looking to work on that booty, core, and arms, I would try these classes out.
- Kick Your Asana
If you’re looking for a workout that will work out every part of your body, and be quite challenging, this is a class worth looking to try. The workouts you do in this class are sometimes a little extreme, or maybe even ones you’ve never seen or done before. You will be sweating very hard in this class as it’s fast-paced, and the room will be hotter than usual (sometimes to 120 degrees). It’s definitely not something I’d recommend the first-time yogi to do.
Before going to any of these classes, make sure to drink plenty of water and eat a meal at least 2 hours before going (you don’t want to eat too soon before as it might make you feel queasy, but you also don’t want to wait too long as you could feel faint). Don’t forget to eat shortly after class!
Some foods with high protein I would advise to eat before or after class:
- Chicken
- Chickpeas
- Eggs
- Spinach
- Smoothies (especially with peanut butter)
It can be a little scary going to a new place and doing a workout you’ve never tried before, but the environment is so friendly. I never felt judged doing my exercises, even when I had to stop for a minute to drink water or take a breath. No one’s going to be perfect the first time they do something, so don’t let that scare you if you’ve been thinking about trying something new.