This week I was interested in practicing Bikram yoga, or what most people know it as.. hot yoga! Bikram yoga is a series of 26 yoga postures practiced in a room heated to 105 degrees F. I have heard so much hype about hot yoga but never had the chance to practice it. So why not try it at home?!
To incorporate a new resource, I decided to try using Pinterest for this weeks learning. I simply typed in ‘hot yoga’ in the search bar and had tons of resources pop up. I clicked on this article to learn how to practice hot yoga in my own home.
I really appreciated this article because it not only taught me how to create a hot yoga environment, but it gave me background information on the hot yoga practice itself. One downfall of this article is that it didn’t provide an actual flow for me to do so I had to search my own.
The ‘hot yoga 101’ section in the article provided me with all the benefits of hot yoga including:
- cardio
- improved posture
- deeper breathing
- spine protection
- detox
- increased blood flow
- increased flexibility
- muscle strength
SO many great benefits how could I say no to it.
My sizzling hot yoga space
First off, the article told me I needed a space that could best suit hot, humid temperatures. It suggested to use your bathroom so you could crank the hot water and turn up the heat in your house to really get the hot yoga environment at home if the space is big enough, which mine is not. I was super disappointed I couldn’t try this out because it would be so different and fun to have the heat at a more realistic temperature for bikram yoga but oh well. So, I decided to pick my bedroom. Then it told me the heat needed to be at 105 degrees Fahrenheit. 105 degrees Fahrenheit! Yikes, I almost shut the hot yoga idea down after reading that. To be realistic and fair I decided to turn my heat up to 80 instead of 105 because 1: bills and 2: that’s way too hot for the rest of my house! I closed the door to my bedroom and turned on my humidifiers to make it get a little steamy.
I also really appreciated the ‘Tips and Tricks’ section of the article! If I hadn’t read this before practicing I probably would’ve worn my regular workout clothes and gotten way too sweaty.
I followed along with the video below of a hot yoga sequence with Adi.
I found this sequence to be fairly easy opposed to the power flows I was doing the weeks prior. It probably would’ve been more challenging if I could have actually practiced this yoga sequence in an environment set at 105 degrees Fahrenheit, but I made the best out of my situation. I could have searched for another power flow and really gotten a good sweat/workout in, but now I know for next time!
Even though this weeks yoga didn’t feel as challenging or get my heart rate up as much as I wished, I still felt refreshed and energized for my day. The way I feel after is always the best part of practicing yoga. I feel so much better mentally and physically!
What type of yoga should I practice next week?
What other resources should I learn yoga from?
6 Comments
tinambowley
Great work, Alex! Such a great idea to incorporate wellness into your learning project to help you maintain balance. I have always like seeing pictures of goat yoga – I think its so cute. It’s probably hard to find a goat, but do you have a dog or cat? Are there other types of animal yoga?
Alexandra Crammond
Thanks Tina! I have seen goat yoga, If only I had a goat! However, I do have a dog and he has been quite a distraction in my yoga practice.. but I wonder if there is a way I can include him somehow?! Thanks for the idea, its something to look into for next week!
Janelle Boutin
Hey Alex!
I’ve heard of Hot Yoga before but I’ve never tried it (I haven’t really tried just regular yoga before, LOL). Good for you for trying something like this at home- I’m sure it was rewarding once you had your hot yoga space set up! The question you asked at the end of your blog intrigued me- I didn’t realize there were different types of yoga, that’s interesting!!
Good luck with your learning!
Alexandra Crammond
Hi Janelle,
I know I was someone who never tried yoga before but I definitely recommend giving it a try! Since I’m learning it from home it takes a lot of the anxiety out of going to a class and not knowing what I’m doing lol. I find it super beneficial as it helps me de-stress and relieves my lower back pain. Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog!
Ciera Romanow
Hello Alex!
I found your blog post about Hot Yoga to be very interesting and informational. I have never really been a person into yoga so do not know much about it, let alone, there being different types of yoga. Knowing this now, maybe the yoga I tried just was not my type but I will definitely look into the different types now. I love how you incorporated a screenshot of your Apple Watch Fitness Goal. I rely on mine for everything and use it as a way of motivation.
Thank you for sharing!
Ciera
Alexandra Crammond
Hey Ciera,
I definitely recommend giving yoga another shot. There are many different types that you can look into to fit your style. For beginners I would suggest hatha yoga, it is just a series of slow, deep stretches that makes your body feel amazing after! Right, I love having my Apple watch for motivation! Thanks for stopping by to check out my blog!