Wellness: Where to do Hot Yoga in Vancouver

With the frigid weather around for a while yet in Vancouver, it’s natural to dream of escaping it all by going to a beach somewhere in the Caribbean. Just think what it could do for your overall wellness. But for some of us, the idea of squeezing our overindulged, holiday-bloated bodies into a bikini leaves too much to the imagination.

Do you want to experience the warmth and rejuvenation of a beach vacation without ever leaving Vancouver? Do you want to get beach-ready and invite wellness back into your life? Hot yoga may be the answer you’re looking for.

Get in the Hot Room

For those of us who do yoga, we understand the reasons why time spent ing downward dog and pigeon on the mat is critical to mental, spiritual and physical wellness. Taking it up a notch, hot yoga is by far the best and quickest way to get back to the naturally strong and flexible beings we were born to be. Just close your eyes in the hot room and you are suddenly transported to that beach. Sans the cocktail and skimpy bikini of course.

Hot Yoga: Bikram versus YYoga

I’ve practiced Bikram yoga for quite some time. What I love about it is that it cultivates dedication and drive to spend time with myself while getting fit and flexible. It shows me my limits, it provides a structured method as each class is exactly the same as the one before. The beginner Hatha poses, done in a room heated to fourty degrees Celsius are done in exactly the same way, in the same order. There is no music played, the lights are up and there are no excuses.

I learned to appreciate the rigid structure of Bikram, to sink into the poses as I memorized the order allowing me to focus on how my body was feeling any given day. But, for those of us who have kids, taking the time to do a ninety-minute class, three to five days is a huge deterrent when dinner is waiting to be prepared and the laundry is piling up. We need wellness that works on our schedule.

Wellness on a Mom’s Schedule

That’s where YYoga comes in. With eight studios around Metro Vancouver, and a variety of hot yoga classes to choose from, I can still keep my commitment to hot yoga. The amount of time I dedicate to my yoga practice is more reasonable while staving off the boredom I was feeling.

At YYoga I can take the Warm Yin class, a slow-paced practice that uses long, deep stretching to enhance joint mobility and flexibility in a room heated to a mere thirty degrees Celcius or a fifty-minute hot yoga class when time is tight. I can choose from meditative, restorative or power flow if I’m feeling energetic. Each instructor brings something unique and some classes even have music! I like the flexibility YYoga offers. The staff are friendly and helpful, and the studio I visited in Kitsilano is beautiful and clean.

Hot Yoga Tips

If you are new to hot yoga here are a few pointers to keep in mind when attending your first few classes.

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• Stay in the room for the entire class.
• Listen to your body. It is good to stop and rest if you need to.
• Focus on breathing. It will help you relax if you need to rest.
• Drink enough water before, during and after class, but don’t overdo it.
• If you feel dizzy or out of breath at any point, take a deep breath, sit down, and relax.
• Be gentle with your process. Do only as much as you can. It will get better.
• Be patient. It usually takes about ten classes before you get into the flow of the class.

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Make Wellness A Priority

So how can you make wellness a priority in the year ahead? By finding the right class for you. If you follow my lead and try hot yoga at YYoga your first class is free and your first month is only $40, which is a small investment. They also offer an app to find the class that suits you best, and you can reserve your spot online.

You have nothing to lose except a bit of time and a lot of sweat in your quest to make wellness a priority this coming year with hot yoga.

YYoga

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