About a year ago I started investigating yoga. Being a typical westerner I was silly in thinking that yoga was something that post uni “finding themselves in India” students picked up to exemplify how spiritual they were upon returning…how wrong was I!
The more I found out, read and tried but more hooked I became!
Joseph Pilates once wrote…
“If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old; if it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.”
From doing weights I have noticed my flexibility has suffered and was finding myself un-able to touch my toes! as a 25 year old…this is serious!
So I took it upon myself to sort this out. I joined hotpod yoga – a hot yoga company based in Brixton (They have other venues dotted about but for the full list go to www.hotpodyoga.com). The “pod” is 37 degrees – as a sun baby its like stepping into a tropical paradise – which allows you to warm your muscles to increase your stretch.
The ambiance is like no other yoga I have ever attended. The instructors play minimal dub/electro which I believe is more relaxing then some of the conventional music played at other yoga’s which can be off putting or make a dis-connect if you focus on the music. The pod is in the dark with only a purple light allowing you to fully focus on the yoga rather than fretting that people will notice the limitations of my stretch!
The instructors are incredible: Cool, calm, know their stuff and also make an effort to create an environment of relaxation. If all of the abve was not enough – sometimes you receive a head massage in the final rest and relaxation when you least expect it – trust me – its incredible!
Within 2 weeks – I could head stand, touch my toes, balance in various yoga poses and focus on my mind and body.
I found my ability to zen at situations and found an inner strength of relaxing into a stretch when situations of stress arose.
Whatever your fitness thread is – try and fit in some yoga. Even if you’re not a gym bunny – the amount of hours we spend on the computer these days has an impact on our spines. To live a long and youthful life we must invest time into protecting our spines.
Use yoga as a practice to un-wind, stretch and have some you time. It is amazing how quickly your ind can reset if you allow the oxygen flow and the quiet to rule for just one hour a day.