Happy International Yoga day everyone!
I have a blog post all about my first experience at trying Hot Pod Yoga (HPY)!
I started doing Yoga about 8 months ago at my gym and I’ve been really enjoying it. As I have introduced heavy weight sessions into my fitness programme, I feel a yoga session really helps my muscles stretch and also relaxes my mind. I come away feeling so calm and stress free and don’t feel as achy after a gym session. Stretching your muscles is so important and something most people skip after a workout. I often go along to lunch time Yoga session as it’s a nice change from being stuck in the same building for the whole day. So, recently I’ve been seeing a lot of posts in magazines, Twitter and Facebook about Hot Pod Yoga, so started doing a bit of research into what is was about.
So, HPY classes provide a 1 hour Vinyasa Yoga class that is held in an inflatable, heated studio. The pod is heated to 37°c, and the heat helps warm the muscles and aids flexibility as well as making the heart work harder. The pod is lightly lit with purple lights and has a subtle aroma, all providing a relaxing and calming environment.
After doing a bit googling I found the Hot Pod Yoga (HPY) website and luckily they did classes in Nottingham whooohoooooo. They do classes in the UK, Netherlands, South Africa and Romania, so do visit the website and see if there are classes in your area.
The lovely Yoga instructor of the Nottingham classes is called Sarah, and she invited me to try out a class. I was super excited and couldn’t wait to try it out. I popped along to my first class with a friend. We arrived and were greeted by Sarah and some lovely ladies who were regulars at the class and were all super sweet. I ended up wearing Nike full length dri-fit leggings, sports bra and a Nike dri-fit vest. I think next time I go I’ll swap the full length leggings for some shorts. We removed our trainers and socks, left our belongings outside the pod and only took in our water and towels. The pod has a small opening which can be opened and closed using the zip, we climbed in and the heat really hit me. For the first few minutes I found it far to hot and even found it a little difficult to breathe. But soon as I had settled down on my mat I got used to the heat. The Yoga class was intense and I was quite out of breath during some points and really felt I was working hard. I sweated bucket loads, when doing the downward dog pose I could see sweat dripping from my face haha. I did not think it was possible to sweat that much hahaha, I had sweat dripping, pouring from every part of my body. Not a pretty look, but don’t worry everyone’s in the same boat. The Yoga instructor Sarah was excellent, she encouraged people with positive points. There was no pressure during the whole class and Sarah made me feel at ease. If you weren’t capable of doing a position or like me wobbled around a bit, there was no feeling of shame or that everyone was staring, the atmosphere was very relaxed. The class finished with Savasana which is time for relaxation. Once the class had finished i felt so relaxed, sleepy but also quite tired. As it’s so hot in the pod your body is having to work harder, making it more tiring. Be warned you will walk out the pod looking like as if you have had a shower whilst fully clothed, your clothes will be drenched.
The day after the class I was expecting my muscles to really achy, as after most yoga classes I have been too I have felt sore. But this time round I was perfectly fine apart from a little soreness in my shoulder area. I was so surprised as the day before the HPY class I had done a heavy weight workout, so was a bit sore on the day of the HPY class. I am assuming that the hot environment helped my muscles stretch but not over stretch to cause me any problems.
Overall I really enjoyed the class and now that I’m back from my first summer holiday I will be booking myself onto some more classes. HPY do some great deals with their class passes so you can book several classes at a time which makes the classes work out cheaper. Please give it a go, do not think it is only for women, there are plenty of men who do Yoga. Click here to take you to the website. Be warned the classes in Nottingham are very popular and do fill up fast. So you do need to get in there as quick as possible to get onto a class. I understand why they’re do popular now, excellent class.
There are some tips I have for you if you decide to give the HPY classes a go.
1) Take a litre of cold water to drink throughout and after the class. So important to stay hydrated as you sweat so much.
2) You will need small hand towel to clean the sweat from your face and body during and at the end of the class.
3) The Yoga mat can get slippery due to it being so hot and sweaty, so a large towel would be great to place on the mat to reduce your hands and feet from slipping when doing positions like downward dog.
4) Do not wear makeup. Your face sweats that much that your makeup will just end up dripping down your face in the first 5 minutes. Allow your face to breath and give your pores a chance to clear out.
5) Make sure the clothing you wear is comfortable and you are able to move around freely. Yoga style pants and a vest is ideal.
6) It does get VERY sweaty during the class. You may want to take a change of clothes to travel home in.
If you give the classes a go I would love to hear what you thought. Hope you love them as much as I did. I can’t wait to get back in the pod.
Love Pam
x
