How Coming to Your Yoga Mat Will Improve Your Day-to-Day Life
The fall season is one of the most popular times to participate in hot yoga. The cooler weather inspires yogis and health buffs to head into their local yoga studio to spend time on their mat. In fact, hot yoga is becoming more and more popular as CorePower, Bikram, and Hot 8 Yoga studios pop up everywhere. What makes this trend so special? Yoga instructor Rachael Kathryn Bell met with us to explain what she believes are the top 5 benefits to hot yoga.
- A Deeper Sense of Peace in Everyday Life
Hot yoga stretches your body and releases tension. This release creates a feeling of peace and awareness physically and mentally that carries over in your day-to-day life.
- An Overwhelming Sense of Gratitude for your Body
While participating in hot yoga, you begin to love your body just as it is. “The heat in the room forces you to take each posture moment by moment, which has given me more mental and spiritual clarity,” added Rachael. The more clarity in your life, the more you can have gratitude for yourself and the body you were given.
- Physical Strength
“Regularly practicing hot yoga has changed me physically by not only increasing my flexibility, but by giving me strength,” Rachael told us. “Because hot yoga is a full body workout, it leans and lengthens your muscles, as well as [strengthens] them. This physical strength has led to me feeling like a more confident woman!”
- Spiritual Awareness
Being more at peace with your day-to-day life and having a gratitude for yourself can only lead to a deeper spiritual awareness. Understanding breath and body helps create the knowledge that we are all one.
- Breath
Most people don’t realize how shallow their breath can be. Having shallow breath not only makes you weaker, but it makes you less focused. Shallow breath can easily lead to more serious issues such as anxiety, as well. Because of the temperature in hot yoga, you are forced to breathe deeper.
Rachael was most changed by hot yoga by how it affected her breath. “Outside of the yoga room, my breath has now become deeper, which allows me to process before I respond in certain work or social situations. Breath is everything. It’s our life force! Yoga is the union of your breath to your body.”
There are many misconceptions as to what hot yoga is, and Rachael is encouraging everyone to put aside their judgments about it and give it a try for themselves.
“Two of the top misconceptions are that 1) you have to be flexible, and 2) you have to be good in the heat. The flexibility will come with time, and the heat factor is all mental.”
We hope you can get inspired by the benefits of the practice and hope to see you on your mat soon.
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