Namaste in Bed

My lifestyle lead me into many injuries that I still carry with me today, affecting me daily. Being active has its ups and downs, this is where I found yoga. Something tough that made me break a sweat and set my mind at ease. I was one of those "I will never do yoga" people until I found YogaSix in Little Italy. I was immediately drawn to the community and the benefits hot yoga can do for you. Find out why you should do hot yoga and change your mind about trying at least one class.

Yoga

Discipline

A group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. It aims to control and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciousness by the mind and mundane suffering.

This word 'yoga' means to draw, bind and unite together. It aims to create a union of the mind, body, and soul to consciousness. It allows people to reach a deep state of freedom, peace and self-realization. Now what is the hype about this billion dollar generates of the world? Let's see if we can change your mind about trying out yoga.

Now let's dive into the 5 Benefits of Hot Yoga and why you should practice it...

1. Meditation

Yoga's incorporation of meditation is arguably one of the hardest thing to do in your practice. Everyone tends to love the laying down part at the end, known as shavasana. If you have tried this, have you gone into deep meditation where you are thinking about nothing, not controlling your breath and just listening to the sound? Many people have busy days, when you are laying there it is hard not to think about the outside world. This is why it is arguably the hardest part to yoga, next to the poses.

How do you become good at the poses? Meditation. You are creating mental clarity and calmness throughout your practice through breath work. Your mind is focussing and increasing body awareness when balancing and stretching. This relieves stress, sharpens concentration, and strengthens the connection between mind and body. Meditation is important to overall health, by shifting your minds attention.

2. Humidity

Everyones least favorite weather, humid; it is hot and sticky - ew! Who knew more moisture in the air can be beneficial to your health; not only people it affects, but plants, animals and the whole climate in positive ways. In hot yoga, studios have humidifiers to keep the practice room at a hot temperature, so you're not breathing in dry heat. The difficulty is there, which means your mental toughness gets stronger.

Humidity is one of your skins best friends, from preventing your skin from drying out. It also leaves your skin glowing and healthy, by opening up pores to moisture. It also helps with acne, hair and cuticles. Humidity can also help with control of infections, such as the flu, respiratory infection, and development of allergens. All the more reason to try a hot yoga class, just make sure to hydrate!

3. Stretching

We have been stretching since we were kids playing sports, for a good reason. If you like to do other activities and need to improve your performance, stretching helps with just that. Yoga is all about flexibility, now you don't have to do the splits to do yoga. It is about improving you mobility and seeing results. The further you go on your stretch each time, the more flexible you become. It takes time and repetition, just like learning anything in this life.

Stretching helps improve your circulation by increasing your blood flow to muscles, nourishing them to avoid injuries. Tight muscles can lead to pain and in the long run, lower back injuries. Helping your joints with full range of motion. Does stretching hurt or feel good? It should be a relaxing phenomenon, and if it is not, you are not doing it enough. Your future self will thank you.

4. Balance is Cardio

Standing balancing postures is working on your cardio, crazy? While balancing you are strengthening your muscles that keep you up right. In yoga, it is important to breath through difficult standing postures. We tend to hold our breath, breathing through it makes it more difficult, but improves your balance and cardio. When you want to exit the pose, is when the pose starts.

When balancing we are also targeting our core, arms, legs, glutes, and back. Strengthening all those areas to improve our mobility and stability. Over time you can improve balancing by holding longer, closing your eyes, letting go of support and adjusting accurate postures. Remember it is a good sign if you start to shake, you are making the most out of your exercise.

5. Yoga Bod

Everyone knows the saying "yoga bod", how do we achieve one? Practice! The idea behind this term is to shift your thinking away from self judgement. While practicing yoga you are looking at yourself in the mirror and your mind needs to learn, to stray away from what you look like. Instead on how powerful your body feels. Overtime the words yoga bod come into effect.

Though this body image type can be harmful, it is all about your mindset. Everybody's body is different, and can never be the same. Get the idea out of your head that you have to be skinny and perfect to have a yoga bod. This body image is about being toned at your own strength and look the way your body aligns with you. Individuals who expect too much of their image are at higher risks of depression and low-self esteem. Where if you practice gratitude and think positive impacts, your body will be right where it needs to be.

Yes, yoga is a discipline; we control how our mind and body work together to create powerful strengths that we did not know we can do. The reward of overcoming mental toughness impacts our daily life; creating more room for gratitude and patience. Leaving you with better sleep, more energy, release stress and connect you to a supportive community.

Still do not think yoga is for you? I have not met someone who does not want to practice self care. If you can not care for yourself, who can you care for? Becoming mindful and openminded throughout the hours of your day makes for easier days. Why not try this fast-growing trend if it helps you become that much better of a person.

There are many types of yoga forms to explore, the next step is for you to adventure out and find what best fits you. Opening up to something new and different, making us more knowledgable humans. A practice you leave feeling in a better mood, at ease and just plain happy on your way home. Our generation strives for validation, learn how to validate yourself because the only person that can make you happy in this life is you.

Photos by Kailynn