TranscendU
In a white-walled, warm gallery room decorated with a lotus flower mural, I laid down my props in what I thought was an obscure corner but turned out to be right next to the teacher.
I brought my own yoga mat from home, years old and not often used, because I didn’t want to have to worry about making sure I mopped up every last drop of sweat after returning the communal mat to its rightful place.
It was my first time trying hot yoga. This class was a 75-minute vinyasa practice at One Love Yoga studio in Harrisburg, owned by yoga lover and teacher Chris Berger. The studio warms the space with forced air but uses infrared heating panels during class to maintain a smooth 90 degrees with around 50% humidity. The infrared, Berger said, is so “you don’t get that oppressive, swampy feeling” during your workout.
Before the class began, my workout neighbors mingled, talked about a recent ayurvedic workshop they’d attended at the studio, and discussed whether they’d actually implement practices like dry brushing, tongue scraping and drinking warm lemon water in their everyday lives. Next to me, one practitioner, Tina, said that she comes to hot yoga three times a week. While it can feel hard in the moment, “it feels better after,” she said.
Vinyasa is a style of yoga that involves flowing between sequences of poses while coordinating the poses with your breath. At times, it can feel intense. A heated room only adds to the intensity. When the teacher, Cindy Frain, who later informed me she’s 70 years old, got started, the temperature in the room felt like it was climbing, likely due to the heat emanating from our own bodies. That’s when the sweat started to crawl.
Berger said that hot yoga increases muscle flexibility, relieves pain from arthritis and other conditions, detoxifies through sweat, improves circulation, and reduces stress. Elizabeth Foote, owner of yoga studio and rock-climbing facility, TranscendU in Mechanicsburg, noted that it also reduces inflammation and helps you sleep better. I can attest to the latter point—I didn’t get up once in the night after my hot vinyasa class, which is abnormal for me.
But just like any physical exercise, there are things to be mindful of. When the practice is fast paced, hot yoga is hard, and it takes time for the body to acclimate.
“Starting any strenuous activity, even couch to 5K, you should make sure that you are physically fit,” noted yoga instructor and manager of TranscendU, Leslie St. John.
Foote and Berger agree that people on high blood pressure medication should consult their physician before trying hot yoga.
“It’s going to dilate your blood vessels and actually bring your blood pressure down,” Foote said. “Over time, people actually have to reduce their blood pressure medicine. Some people actually get off of it and never need it again.”
Healing Heat
From my own experience, hot yoga was hard—harder than a vinyasa class at a regular temperature. Berger knows this.
“Don’t go full monty in the class, but you will notice you start to develop acclimation to it,” she said.
Berger noted that child’s pose, which involves kneeling and leaning forward, is always there for you when you need a break from more strenuous movements.
“And nobody’s watching,” she said.
During class, I took my fair share of child’s pose breaks.
With all the sweat that comes with a hot yoga class, students can’t rely on the friction of the body or their mat as much as they may be used to. In tree pose, where the sole of my foot pressed into my inner thigh, I was slipping out of balance much easier than I’m used to. In downward dog, my hands tended to slide up the mat, though some mats are specially designed for hot yoga to preserve friction in moist environments.
Some hot yoga classes are more beginner friendly than others. At One Love Yoga and TranscendU, the maximum temperature isn’t as high as at some other studios.
TranscendU also offers a class called “healing heat,” where overhead infrared heat panels combine with extremely gentle movement for a calming experience. Both studios offer mildly heated chair yoga, which is the type of class Berger likes to teach. She said that chair yoga classes ought to be rebranded because people tend to stay away from it, thinking it’s only for elderly folks. But, she said, that’s not necessarily the case.
“It’s so nice if there are issues in transitions from ground to up, post-surgery or injury recovery, because it really does help you keep your agility,” she said.
In One Love Yoga’s hot vinyasa class, there were times when I thought, in my naturally sarcastic way, “Oh, there’s more.” While some classes are not for the faint of heart, there’s a spectrum in the hot yoga world, and no one says you have to start at the more difficult level.
After getting out of my comfort zone and trying a new type of exercise, I could feel the sweat leaving my body to make way for self care. As for whether I’ll go as often as my yoga neighbor, Tina, I can’t say that’s going to happen. But an every-now-and-then challenge to become a better version of myself? Now, that’s not out of the question.
One Love Yoga is located at 2591 Brindle Dr., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.oneloveyogaharrisburg.com.
TranscendU is located at 5103 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg. For more information, visit www.transcendu.net.
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