If you’ve never heard of yoga before or hot yoga and if you’ve never tried Oconomowoc yoga you might have heard some common myths out there through talking with friends, family members, coworkers or what you see on social media. At Sweat Shop hot yoga studio in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin I can just about guarantee you that we’ve heard almost every myth, rumor or wild legend that there is to be told about Hot Yoga. So today we want to talk about these myths and do a little bit of myth busting.
As many of you know, there’s plenty of other workouts in the world that you can do. But those other workouts tend to be tedious, high-impact or even grueling at times. The awesome thing about Oconomowoc yoga and Hot Yoga is that it’s a low impact alternative and it still helps you build muscle while keeping your mind and body fully engaged for an entire 60 minutes of class. Hot Yoga will help you build flexibility and strength along with increase mindfulness and reduce stress, all at the same time. If these benefits aren’t enough to get you sold on the idea of hot yoga, we’ll tackle some of the common Hot Yoga objectives and myths that we often hear from potential students or those who maybe aren’t into the idea of yoga or have some misconceptions on what it’s all about.
If you are worried about attending Oconomowoc yoga because you think it’s too hot, well we will tell you that yes our classes are heated, but they’re heated anywhere from 85 to 105 degrees and we primarily use infrared heat to do this. Infrared heat feels less like a horribly steaming and unbearably hot sauna and more like the warm sun on your skin. We always recommend that you arrive to class at least 15 minutes early. This will give you time to put your things away in the locker room and head on into the studio about 10 minutes before class so that you can lay down and relax, do a few stretches and begin adjusting to the heat.
If you think you can’t do yoga because you’re not flexible enough I hate to break it to you but you are absolutely wrong. There are plenty of people who do yoga and also consider themselves not flexible, including myself. Although increasing flexibility is oftentimes a byproduct of doing yoga and especially hot yoga, becoming the most flexible person in the world really isn’t the overall goal of yoga. So we can promise you this, you do not have to be flexible to do yoga. Being flexible is not a prerequisite to doing yoga. And yoga is more about balance and strength along with core stability more than it is about flexibility. And we all start somewhere, right? Going to yoga classes regularly can help you increase your flexibility and strength, but once again it is not a prerequisite to coming to a yoga class. We all start somewhere!
If one of your worries or concerns about coming to a hot yoga class is that you already sweat too much during regular workouts or that you’re a really sweaty person, I can guarantee you that in hot yoga we are all sweating and leave the room looking like a drowned rat more often than that. In hot yoga we will all sweat together. Trust me when I say that everyone around you is going to be sweating if the room is 85° and we’re moving around to get an hour of yoga and workout in. I absolutely promise you that you will not be the only person sweating and we’re all going to end the class with a puddle of sweat on our mat. Sweating is our natural response to heat and exerting energy and sweat actually helps us reap the full benefits of a hot yoga practice, which includes detoxifying the body which is accomplished through the sweating process. So here at Sweat Shop Hot Yoga Studio, kind of like the song that Rain Is a Good Thing, here, sweat is a good thing.
If you’re worried that you won’t be able to hold the poses while you’re dripping in sweat, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not going to be the only one working through the same challenge. As I always say, challenge is what makes us stronger and what helps us to grow. So if it’s too easy, that means you’re not working hard enough and part of the benefit and attractiveness of hot yoga is that it’s more of a workout than your traditional yoga classes. So you are not going to be the only one who is struggling to hold the poses while you are dripping in sweat, I promise you that we’re all sweating and sliding around on our mats. Because of this, we encourage you to either bring a towel or rent a towel from the studio to cover your mat and this will help reduce you slipping and sliding around on your mat. You can buy a hot yoga towel on Amazon for about $20 or $25. We also recommend that you bring in a small hand towel size towel so you can wipe sweat away from your face, arms or legs if you would like to during our Oconomowoc yoga classes.
If you’re worried that you’ll get dehydrated because of hot yoga class, we recommend that you stay hydrated before, during and after. We always encourage everyone to bring a water bottle with them to class and into the studio so that you can sip on water during class. After Oconomowoc yoga we always encourage people to again stay hydrated and even try drinking an electrolyte drink to replenish nutrients and help yourself stay hydrated.
Last but not least, let’s talk about the people who think yoga is too physically demanding. Hot Yoga is an incredibly low impact form of exercise, especially compared to a lot of other types of workouts such as running or lifting weights and other forms of cardio and strength training. In addition to putting some amount of strain on your limbs, joints and muscles is what helps us grow stronger and improve our balance. In order for us to get some type of benefit from your workout, you do need to put a little bit of strain on your muscles but not too much to the point of injury. In Oconomowoc yoga moving from pose to pose helps enhance and improve your range of motion which makes daily life activities easier for your body, especially as you age.
We hope that busting some of these myths has been helpful for you and has encouraged you to give yoga classes and hot yoga classes try. If you would like to try a hot yoga class for yourself please visit us in person at our studio in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin or visit us online at www.sweatshophotyoga.com or give us a call at 262-269-1466. We can’t wait to meet you!