Hot Yoga

In Balance Yoga
401 South Main Street . Blacksburg
540.961.1030

In Balance Yoga in Blacksburg is a new yoga studio where we ventured for a hot yoga class! They offer a variety of classes, including Vinyasa, Restorative Yoga and Prenatal Yoga, along with Hot Yoga... which if you haven't heard about it already, you will! And they are the first studio in Southwest Virginia to offer a full schedule of heated yoga classes.

So what's so hot about Hot Yoga? The Hot Yoga lineage comes from Calcutta, India, which is a very hot and humid environment. The controlled environment of the yoga room creates a balance of heat and humidity that is therapeutic to the body. There are many benefits of doing hot yoga. It protects muscles as they move through their full range of motion, the heat softens collagen around the joints allowing more freedom of movement, it allows the body to release toxins through heavy sweating, releases endorphins to reverse negative effects of stress, and improves the function of the nervous system so that messages move rapidly to and from the brain and spinal cord, just to name a few!

In a (hot and sweaty) nutshell, the Hot Yoga class was just an ordinary yoga class (of 30 different poses and movements)... set in a 100 degree room with 40-50% humidity! Sound delightful? Well, to be honest, it actually was. By the end of the class we both felt as if we had sweat off about 10 pounds and we were able to do just about all the yoga moves. It must have been the heat that allowed us to be a little more limber than we normally are. (Amy's balance was way better than Joey's though!) Helpful hint: drink plenty of water before your class, and bring water with you for during because you WILL need it! We were soaking wet at the end of the class so bring a towel too, so you don't slide all over your yoga mat. Oh, and if you plan on going out in public afterwards, make sure you bring shower items, and a change of clothes! (Amy learned that the hard way.)

So we know the first thing you want to ask is: Does the room full of sweaty, stretching individuals stink? Not at all. And the next is: Were we sore for days afterwards? You bet your sweaty yoga hiney we were!