Hot Yoga Benefits...everything

Paige Williams described herself as 80 pounds overweight, divorced, out of work, and deeply in debt. Could 60 days of hot-yoga giver her a physical and spiritual overhaul?  Paige  gave herself a hot yoga challenge, but never expected it to change her life.

In her story, published in Oprah Magazine, www.oprah.com/relationships/Paige-Williams-60-Day-Makeover, Paige said she thought of hot yoga as  “a reset button” for her body.

And she took her hot yoga seriously. Anxious to document her experience honestly, Paige first went to a clinic and tested everything from her lung capacity to her body fat to her cholesterol. Here was her starting point before hot yoga:

 LDL/bad cholesterol: 149 (ideal: less than 100) 

Triglycerides: abysmal

Body-fat: nearly half her body weight, 34.6

Blood glucose: 99, one point from pre-diabetes

Treadmill stress test: barely 8 METS 

For depression, Williams was taking the highest possible combination dosage of Wellbutrin and Lexapro. She slept poorly and had headaches everyday. Williams saw few things in her life to be happy about.

Next – 60 days of heat, sweat, and soul searching in hot yoga.  When the hot yoga challenge ended, Williams glimpsed the start of a whole new life: 

Weight: lost 14 pounds

Waist: lost five inches

 LDL cholesterol: 108

 BMI: 32.3—down 7 percent

Treadmill stress test:  11.5 METS

Fasting blood glucose: 73

Paige summed up her hot yoga transformation:  “The 60-day challenge got me out of bed and out of my own head…I've stopped taking… Wellbutrin and Lexapro, and, while the depression is still with me, it feels manageable. I've still been turning...at night when I sleep, but I…no longer wake up with a headache. “

After hot yoga, Paige wrote of a newfound appreciation for her life: “One Saturday in Memphis, I walked out of class and into a golden morning. Everything I saw seemed urgent and worthy and beautiful. ..I saw a field of yellow wildflowers. …When I got in the car, Lloyd Cole was singing…..: "All you need is love is all you need." ...I'd forgotten I could even feel that way. “

Have you forgotten how good your body – and your life – can feel? Try your own hot yoga challenge at Riverflow Yoga: 3 hot yoga classes for $36 will get you started. On to 30 days of unlimited hot yoga for $160. Take it at your own pace and let hot yoga bring you back to your life.

The benefits of hot yoga | Infrared-hot yoga.

At Riverflow Yoga, our infrared heaters get you hot.

Far-infrared radiant (FIR) heat is a completely safe form of naturally occurring heat energy.  Infrared, also called radiant heat, warms only the objects, not the air in the room. Your body easily absorbs FIR because of its deep penetrating ability; at 2-3" deep, infrared energy is said to increase circulation and nourish damaged tissue.

Our sun produces most of its energy output in the infrared spectrum; our FIR heaters provide the health benefits of natural sunlight without any of the sun's more dangerous effects. As FIR penetrates the skin, bloods vessels and capillaries dilate, promoting better blood circulation to help rid the body rid of toxins and metabolic wastes through sweat.

Radiant heat is thought to promote many health benefits:

Better Circulation

Increased Energy

Weight Loss

Cardiovascular Health

Faster Recovery from Injuries

Overall Detoxification

Stress Reduction &Relaxation

Improved Immune System

Come in and relax. Our combination of infrared heat plus 26 hot yoga poses adds up to a lot of healing potential.

FIR Information from Wasauna Showers and Saunas

Studies prove that when it comes to yoga...just do it!

Is yoga just the coolest new cure or what?

A study published in the Indian Journal of Personality and Clinical Studies compared the effectiveness of Hatha yoga with that of  Diazepam, a drug prescribed for anxiety. Group 1 measured the effectiveness of yoga practiced five times per week for three months while Group 2 measured the effectiveness of drug therapy for the same time period.  At least 6.7% of Group 1 subjects were reported to be completely asymptomatic as compared with none of the Group 2 subjects.

A University of California at Davis study tested the effects of Hatha yoga on muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, body composition, and pulmonary function.  For eight-weeks,  volunteers were required to attend a minimum of two yoga classes per week. 

The results: 31% increase in isokinetic muscular strength for elbow extension, 19% increase in strength for elbow flexion, 28% increase in strength for knee extension, 57% increase in isometric muscular endurance for knee flexion, 13% increase in ankle flexibility, 55% increase in shoulder elevation, 188% increase in trunk extension, 14% increase in trunk flexion, 7% increase in absolute oxygen uptake. Yowza.

Two studies published in the April 2000 issue of Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology showed that “yoga may be as effective as drug therapy in controlling hypertension,” and similarly showed that a four-month Hatha yoga treatment “significantly increased feelings of good health,” as measured through the use of a standardized scale known as the “Subjective Well-Being Inventory.”

 Well being, through hatha yoga.

Does Your Doctor Love Yoga?

Have you had your yoga today?

The results are in: regular Hatha yoga practice contributes to a wide range of physical and psychological improvements.

According to USA Today, extensive research has reported that Hatha Yoga can benefit people with asthma, arthritis, and high blood pressure.

Cardiac surgeon at New York Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, Dr. Mehmet Oz, says:

Hatha Yoga massages the lymph system,  activating the flow of lymph throughout the body, speeding up its infection-fighting and waste-filtering process, and promoting “the draining of the lymph.” 

According to Oz, specific asanas “stretch muscles that ...are known to stimulate the lymph system.”

An eight-week study completed by Dr. Ralph Schumacher of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1998 determined that a “yoga-based regimen was more effective than wrist splinting or no treatment in relieving some symptoms and signs of carpal tunnel syndrome.”

Dr. Dean Ornish also found that 80% of his tested heart patients were able to avoid bypass or angioplasty by adhering to lifestyle changes, including Yoga.

Yoga; it's good for what ails you.

Hot Sexy Yoga?

Will hot yoga make you a hot lover?

Of course, if your body is toned, your muscles are supple, and you're feeling great about how your body looks and feels, chances are you're going to feel more sexy.

Plus, the rise in body temperature and extra blood circulating around during hot yoga...that's a real rush.

But there's more; it seems that some hot yoga poses actually stimulate and nourish the sex organs.

Take Garudhasana, Eagle Pose, for example. As you're bending low and squeezing together the hands, arms and legs, you're also collecting blood in the lower chakras, and genitals.

When you release from the pose, you get a burst of oxygenated energy in those powerful centers.

Yes, hot yoga students have said have experience better sex as a result of their dedicated hot yoga practice.

I say, whatever gets you hot...