I’ve recently taken a bit of a fancy to Hot Yoga. In particular, I love Moksha Yoga, which is a specific strain of Hot Yoga. Moksha started in Canada, where there are 65 studios, and is branching out to North America. There’s a studio in cycling distance from where I live, so having just filmed a You Tube interview with them, I thought I’d commit to a month’s worth of classes.
Up until now, I’ve always been a bit of a purist with Yoga – I was taught (and certified as a teacher,) by one mentor from the Astanga tradition, and another mentor from the Iyengar tradition. Both of these traditions are pretty hard-core, and you don’t deviate too much from the central teachings of each discipline. I always rather looked down on “Hot Yoga” as being a faddish, and perhaps unsafe practice, but Moksha has changed my mind.
Also, ironically, I don’t LOVE sweating! I prefer dry heat, which is why living in Los Angeles suits me well, but of course, hot yoga is about intense humidity. I also didn’t fancy the idea of sweating profusely with 50 other students in an enclosed studio – yuck! However, Moksha is almost OCD in its cleanliness program, and the high-tech studio incorporates an air cleansing system, which mercifully makes the air smell pretty clean at all times.
Simply standing in Mountain Pose at the beginning of class had me break out in a crazy sweat (and I don’t sweat easily,) and by the time we got through our first round of sun salutations the sweat was dripping off me like large droplets of rain. There was something about the heat, sweating, and intense breathing (that we were constantly reminded to engage in,) that made me feel so open – not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally. You just have to keep pushing through the poses as the sweat continues to pour. In some ways it’s harder than a regular yoga class because of the heat, but in many ways it’s easier because you are able to open up tight muscles way more quickly.
I have a couple of dodgy areas: a very tight hip due to a past injury, and a neck that doesn’t take kindly to sitting for hours in front of a computer screen. Both of these tight spots have softened up over the past few days, causing way less irritation. So much so, that I now have hope that my left hip that felt as if it had fossilized, might open up into being able to sit in Lotus once again.
However, the thing I most love about this practice is that is really helps to detoxify your entire system. We obviously excrete many of the toxins in our body through sweating, and forcing the body to sweat, while performing asanas, which were designed to detoxify anyway, is a GREAT combo.
You’ll also need fewer facials when you practice Hot Yoga. By virtue of the fact that you are wiping off your face every 3 minutes – believe you me, you are getting rid of deeply ingrained dirt and oils. My pores are way cleaner than they’ve been in years.
The most important thing, as with any yoga class, is finding a studio with really good, well-trained teachers. Moksha is great because every teacher follows the “Moksha” series of poses and they all teach in a uniform (and excellent) manner. I have, however, heard horror stories of fitness teachers taking a weekend yoga teacher training before going in front of a large class of students. Make sure you check out the credential of every teacher you take with because bad teacher almost always leads to injury. BTW – a good teacher will teach as much about breathing, as the poses (so, there’s a clue.)
If you are up for a Hot Yoga class, or already practice – here are my beauty tips for your practice.
1. Add a few drops of Smooth 8 to your water bottle to alkalize your water.
2.As well as a yoga towel, take a regular small towel because a terry towel has rough enough fibers to exfoliate your skin while you are rubbing off the perspiration.
3. After your practice, when you are done showering, don’t apply any facial products for at least 30 minutes because your face will continue to perspire. After 30 minutes, spritz your face with a hydrating mist such as Sunshine Botanicals Hydrating Recovery Mist.
4. Hydrate your body with a really great lipid replenishing lotion, such as Keeki Ginger Blossom Body Lotion – the smell is insanely lovely and your skin needs extra hydration after all that sweating.
Please note: Make sure you are following me on Open Sky because I have collected all the beauty products that I adore in one simple place for you to shop.
