30-Day Original Hot Yoga Challenge
What does it feel like to do 30 hot yoga practices in 30 days?
30 hot yoga practices in 30 days? That sounds like a lot. For us, it’s a 40-minute round trip each time we attend a 90-minute class. That adds up to 65 hours of a commitment to yoga in a month. Why on earth would we do that?
Let’s go back to how it all started. I took my first Bikram hot yoga class on April 21, 2018, at Lilly Koken's Pure Sweat studio in Ithaca. Here’s my post-practice smile from back when I regularly posted on Instagram.
When we heard that Pure Sweat was closing on Apr 18, 2020, we were devastated. We tried a few community-offered Zoom classes amid the pandemic, but it was not the same in our bathroom with space heaters.
So we took a hiatus from hot yoga.
Two years later, Jackie and Mark de Oliveira opened YogOdyssey. They held their first class at their gorgeous studio in Ithaca's Fall Creek neighborhood on October 5, 2022. We weren’t there at the very beginning (we were out of the routine, so it was not on our radar), but we started attending after being invited by a friend of ours. Once we got back in the groove, we were hooked, and as of this post, I’ve logged 260 classes to date in the new studio.
We watched in awe as some of our fellow practitioners completed a 30-day challenge. There’s a board at the studio where you can keep track of progress and cheer them on. We usually saw it done in January, but when we saw a period in June and July where we’d be in town and available, we decided to try the challenge ourselves. Serendipitously, it’d start the day after I returned from a business trip, and end on my birthday. How perfect is that?
I wondered how I'd feel about practicing 30 days in a row (we doubled up one day due to a volunteer commitment). As the challenge progressed, we grew accustomed to a daily practice – it was just something we did, and the routine was comforting. The last practice was far easier than the first, and as we got more sessions under our belt, I felt I knew the 26-pose progression a lot better. The class had a Zen-like flow that I didn't realize before. It was fun being cheered on by our fellow yogis and instructors, and before we knew it, we’d reached the end. Here’s what 30 days looks like!
So, what is hot yoga? Here's what an AI has to say about it:
"Bikram yoga, often called hot yoga, is a specific style that involves practicing 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises in a room heated to about 105°F (40°C) with high humidity. People are drawn to it for a mix of physical, mental, and even social benefits. Hydration is critical—you lose a lot of fluid. If you have cardiovascular issues, heat intolerance, low blood pressure, or are pregnant, check with a doctor first."
When people ask me about why I do hot yoga, the short answer is "it feels great!" but there's a lot more to it. Each posture has a series of medical benefits, which one of our instructors, Cay, will go through during some practices. Generally, here are the highlights.
Flexibility
The warm room helps you safely stretch more deeply into poses, having warmed your muscles and connective tissues.Strength and Balance
The all-body workout works your legs, core, and spine. The long poses help build endurance and balance.Detoxification
You sweat a lot. This can help eliminate some toxins through your skin.Cardiovascular
You get your heart rate up, even with static poses. The body works hard to cool itself, and it's a solid Zone 1 workout.Stress Reduction and Mental Clarity
You focus on calmly breathing through your nose and staying present in the room. It's hard, but this focus through challenge helps you accomplish difficult tasks outside of the room.Weight Reduction
A 90-minute class can burn 300–600+ calories per session. I typically burn 500-600 calories, based on my Strava results from my Apple Watch.Joint and Spine Health
There's so much focus on spinal mobility, working the lower, middle, upper, and complete spine. I haven't had much in the way of back pain since regularly practicing.Community and Discipline
In addition to the benefits above, regular practice helps build a routine, and seeing the other people building the same routine builds a strong social group. The studio is such a fun place to be because of the instructors and yogis who are in the same space.
Now that the 30-day challenge is complete, we plan to go three times per week instead of twice – it's that good! Hot yoga has helped make me a stronger and more injury-proof athlete. If you ever want to join in, Amy and I have monthly guest passes and would love to introduce you to the studio.