LWSS Does Hot Yoga!

LWSS Does Hot Yoga!

In the next iteration to better understand the exercise preferences of our patients and exercise-specific injuries, the LWSS team decided to try out hot yoga! (Prior to trying out hot yoga, we tried out Barre3). 

Like Barre3, most of us were new to hot yoga too.


Prior to class:
-Different yoga studios heat their rooms at different temperatures. We recommend having your first class in a “warm” room, 80-90F degrees. We attended class at Shakti East Vinyasa Yoga in Bellevue which was an excellent temperature for an intro class. 

-Hydrate well, starting the day prior to class. 

-Bring a yoga mat and large towel to class (or rent from the studio).

-Arrive ~20mins early to class to register, set up your mat, and acclimate to the room prior to starting class!


What to expect:
-Yoga is often thought of as a moving meditation. Rooms are quiet and the emphasis is focusing on the breath and pose. 

-Keep breathing…

-Instructors will cue you and being in the back of the room will help you understand how to move through the poses. 

-Keep breathing...the breath is the first priority but hard to master.



Final thoughts:
Hot yoga is a great way to get the therapeutic benefits of a moving meditation while increasing your heart rate. There are different types of hot yoga; hatha is a gentle introduction to postures, vinyasa focuses on the flow between postures, power is designed to be more intense than vinyasa, and Bikram is a series of 26 postures that are distinct from each other and arguably the most challenging. We enjoyed the vinyasa class at Shakti, but can also recommend the more demanding/hotter classes at Hot Yoga Inc., and Ashram Yoga Bellevue (Bikram style) in the downtown Bellevue area.