Welcome to day 2 of our 7 day ‘Adopt Healthier Habits’ Challenge with Inner Me! Do you feel revitalised, refreshed and ready for healthy habit number two? We all love to get those feel-good endorphins flowing, so what better time to spice up your workout than now? As autumn brings those darker mornings and evenings, we have come up with the perfect solution to counter those post-summer blues (and the cold!)… Hot Yoga of course!

Why Hot Yoga?
It is not hard to understand why yoga is so popular in the health, fitness and wellbeing world. Increased flexibility, strength, better posture, better breathing, a healthy heart and good circulation are only a few of the benefits that you can achieve!

But why are things (literally) hotting up?
To put it plainly, imagine each benefit you gain from yoga intensified. Stretching, posing and exercising in a hot environment is far more challenging than standard yoga, therefore the amount of concentration required to perform such physical moves, stretches and sequences forces you to meditate, focus, be aware of your breath and totally disengage from all outside thoughts. What’s more, with your heart pumping oxygenated blood around your body fast, your muscles and tendons can be stretched and strengthened to an extent that you never thought possible. Get ready to perspire those toxins and negative energies away to leave nothing less than a new, fitter, firmer, focused YOU!

So who are our faves?…

If you want only the best teachers…Fierce Grace Yoga
Fierce Grace was founded by the one and only Michele Pernetta; the woman who introduced Bikram yoga to the UK in 1994 after returning from LA. Therefore, leading the UK in the Hot Yoga revolution, you can guarantee that Fierce Grace will provide only the most passionate, motivated and experienced teachers. Therefore, reaping all mental and physical benefits from your hot yoga experience (as you deserve!) is a guarantee.

But don’t feel like you have to be an expert at yoga – beginners are welcome with open arms as each class is specifically orchestrated to be accessible for all ages and abilities. Simply choose from five fabulous classes – Core, Classic, Fierce Grace, Fierce (aka The Beast) or The Fix, to secure the exact experience you crave.

If you fancy a new kind of hot yoga…Tri Yoga “hot”
Jonathan Sattin had a vision that he wanted everyone to ‘triyoga’ and, come 2000 his dream came true. With the quality, accessibility and variety of his classes keeping clients returning again and again, this ethos was translated into the ‘Tri Yoga hot’ class, which set out to design a new kind of hot yoga experience.

The science? Rather than focusing purely on the temperature degree of heat, ‘Tri Yoga hot’ concentrates of the type of heat by using infrared waves. Therefore, the body rather than the room is heated, which stimulates an effective, detoxifying sweat at a safer, more tolerable intensity – perfect if you suffer from dizziness, are prone to fainting or have low blood pressure. Expect temperatures to range between 36-38C but enjoy and experience all the benefits as if your class was as hot as Bikram yoga (40C).

‘Tri Yoga hot’ is an alignment-based yoga practise based on the Tapasya method, therefore you will leave your class feeling revitalized, refreshed and not to mention sporting a super-healthy glow! Why not give it a Tri (see what we did there)?

If you want to take your hot yoga to new heights and hide-outs…Hotpod Yoga
Have you ever performed yoga in an inflatable pod? An inflatable hot pod? Then this is a whole new experience that every hot yoga fan must try.

Founders of Hotpod yoga, Nick Higgins and Max Henderson, wished to make the benefits of hot yoga accessible in as many ways (and places) as possible. Hence, after teaming up with award winning designers Inflate and Nick Elias, the portable hotpod was born! At a tolerable 37C, expect to enjoy a warm Vinyasa-Flow class to feel rejuvenated, glowing and calmed whilst simultaneously experiencing the benefits of an intensive physical workout.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. Taking the country by storm and expanding from London to places such as Swansea, South Birmingham and Cheshire to name a few, Nick and Max thought it was time to take the physical and mental benefits of yoga to a whole new level (quite literally) by creating the only roofpod on earth. That’s right hip and healthies, hot yoga reaches new heights in Hackney! With 360 degree views of London, expect to feel calm, collected, liberated and on top of the world. Need to de-stress? Then this method beats any doctors’ prescription. Come and see it to believe it!

If your hardcore…Sohot Bikram Yoga
Do you desire to take hot yoga to the next level? Then Sohot Yoga is the one for you. Attracting clients far and wide, including celebrities such as Lady Gaga, this is not for the faint-hearted. Get ready for an intense 90 minute Bikram yoga class consisting of 26 postures and two breathing exercises to work every muscle, ligament, tendon and joint. Every posture prepares you for the next, and each proceeding posture gains from the previous one, resulting in incredible benefits that include improved posture, muscle & joint mobility, concentration, increased energy, and overall rejuvenation.

But be warned: the studio is heated to 105°F/41°C. If you can take it, expect to burn a rewarding 800-1000 calories a class, and experience a sport experience like no other. If you attend Bikram regularly, expect to see staggering results as your flexibility, strength, balance and mental state are stretched, strengthened and stabilised. Oh, and don’t forget your going to be sweating buckets of unwanted toxins of course.

If your mental state needs re-balancing…Fitness on Fire
Fitness on Fire lionises hot yoga as a means of specifically focusing, calming and centering the mind. The heat, set between 85 and 90F, gives you no choice but to concentrate on the task at hand, and live in the moment. By inhaling and exhaling heat, producing and profusing purifying sweat, peace, harmony, love and happiness exudes your soul and core. Feel strong, victorious, empowered and positive. After a class, expect to feel overcome with feelings of gratitude, as you realize the importance of yourself and your surroundings in the present moment.

If you wish to rediscover the benefits your body and mind can receive by means of meditation, then this is your go-to class. Achieve total harmony and synchronization with oneself to banish those unnecessary anxieties, and feel satisfied and fulfilled as you get back to being the best version of you – an ethos we hold dearly here at hip and healthy HQ. Let’s get physical!

words by Olivia Murphy