24 Years of Hot Yoga and Why We're Still Obsessed
The heat has always called to me.
When I first started practicing yoga over 25+ years ago, it was in a cold room. I fell in love with the breath and movement right from the start, but my enthusiasm for the practice grew exponentially when I experienced vinyasa yoga in a heated room!
The feeling of being wrapped up in the heat while breathing and moving was like yoga with a hug!
The intensity that the heat created held my attention and allowed me to focus more deeply on being in my body, in the moment. I loved how flexible my body became as the heat moved in. I loved the respiration and the perspiration of hot yoga and soon, that was the main style of practice I was drawn to.
At the end of a hot practice, I felt like I could be at ease in my body in such a deeply restful way. In those moments I felt so much peace and presence - there was something spiritual in the heat for me. It was like the heat helped me fully get out of my head and completely get into my body. I knew there were physical benefits to practicing in the heat - like improved detoxification and increased flexibility - but honestly, it was just the way I felt in the heat that drew me in over and over.
In the first IBY space, we didn’t have a heating system other than a regular commercial heater. But I brought in 3 space heaters and hung blankets over the doorways to raise the heat a few degrees. And then as we moved into the current River studio, we added the supplemental heating to create a warmer environment to breathe and move. When we opened the original Westlake studio, we had a sophisticated system with two furnaces and two humidifiers to create a wonderfully hot practice space! As we lost that original Westlake space and started looking for a new one, I began researching adding the element of infrared panels to increase the benefits of the heating system by adding the immersive experience of the penetrating infrared panels.
As I have continued to research the benefits of heat and infrared heat, I found that it also helps to boost circulation, soothe sore muscles and relieve joint stiffness and pain. I became a bit obsessed with heating systems and love the system we currently have in place! Adding lots of human bodies in the space makes it even hotter and cozier! I see how happy everyone is at the end of a steamy class with bodies perspiring and minds calm. It’s magic and healing to me.
Dr Mark Hyman has continued to affirm my beliefs of the incredible healing power of breathing and moving in the heat with his research that has found that heat therapy improves cardiovascular fitness, increases heart rate variability, regulates blood sugar and blood pressure, increases endorphins for a natural high, reduces stress hormones and improves sleep. These are all just added benefits to the ones we feel happening!
Suddenly “heat therapy” and the value of it is everywhere. It’s like the greatest confirmation for me! Something I always knew was healing, is now being embraced in such broad scale way. And yet IBY has been sharing this heat therapy for over 20 years.
Those of you who have been with us for years, were ahead of your time! And we were all Trail Blazers! Go us! And GO HEAT!
This time of year the warmth of the studio feels even better. It is like a huge embrace to walk into the hot studio, smell the smells and feel the love…. come join us!
Big Love,
Tammy Lyons