If doing squats in over 100 degrees of heat to the sound of “Thriller” has been on your bucket list for a while, I have a great suggestion for you: try hot yoga at Hot Yoga Bowling Green, recently voted “Best Place for Yoga” in the Herald’s 2017 “Best of the Hill.”
I recently went with my friends, and it was quite the experience.
When I entered Hot Yoga Bowling Green, I was greeted by Yoga Daddy and Yoga Momma, also known as owners Tony and Anice Bishop. Tony and Anice were very friendly, and they seemed to know everyone’s names. By the time I left, I felt like they were my newfound best friends.
I was also lucky enough to meet Cali-Caliente, the “hot yoga dog.” And my experience only got better from there.
I entered the dressing room to change and exited wearing as few clothes as possible because I knew sweat was inevitable once the class started. Trust me, no matter how big or small you are, we all sweat the same, and things were about to get hot.
Entering the studio, we had a couple of minutes to relax before the class started. I tried to emotionally prepare for how big of a fool I was about to make of myself. Surprisingly, despite the heat, I found myself almost asleep with relaxation by the time the class began.
The session I attended was called “Skinny Jeans,” and it was designed to help you fit into its namesake.
Although the 101-degree heat added an extra level of intensity, the class didn’t feature any advanced moves, and I was able to do every workout.
The playlist for the class was not what I expected either. Pop tunes blared over the speaker system, and I was thankful for that. After all, you can only be so tired when Michael Jackson is playing.
The class was taught by Yoga Momma. Be warned, Yoga Momma has a unique way of wishing people, “Happy Birthday” during a yoga class, and because of this, I found myself doing 50 crunches in someone’s honor.
As everyone pushed through the pain and the heat together, I could feel the whole room come together as one. I felt especially close with the man behind me who opened the door to let some cool air in.
I’m going to be honest: I didn’t know that there was so much liquid in my body. There is absolutely no way I didn’t lose 10 pounds in sweat alone. After the class, I was truly a new woman, even if it was only because the old me was left on the mat in a puddle of sweat.
At the end of the class, Yoga Momma handed me a cold washcloth to put on my head. It was like walking from Hell into Heaven.
Despite the initial struggle, I felt awesome afterward, and my friends and I immediately decided to beg our parents for a membership.