Yoga heats up in Manawatu

Yoga classes are heating up in Palmerston North as the city’s first hot yoga studio gets set to open.

Hot yoga, vinyasa flow and yin yoga are classes starting up at The Dharma Room, on King St.

For owner Judy Carmichael, the beginning of the business is the end of a long journey of recovery.

Carmichael has been doing yoga since she was 17.

But aspirations to open a studio first sprung up as she was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for oesophagael cancer.

As her friends visited her in Palmerston North Hospital in 2013, she told them she was going to set up a studio.

The studio gave her something to focus on as she went through a ‘‘terrible’’ period in her life.

A year later, in March 2014, Carmichael was startled while riding her bike when two large dogs rushed out at her.

‘‘I just knew when I was going over the handle bars it was going to be painful.’’

She fractured her shoulder and underwent surgery to insert pins and plates into the right-hand side of her hip.

She said yoga was her saving grace when it came to getting her body back to feeling strong and flexible again.

Hot yoga takes place in a room heated to 38 degrees Celsius, while vinyasa classes could be heated to up to 32C, she said.

People are often intimidated by the heat, but Carmichael said it was worth giving it a go for both the physical and mental benefits.

Toni Laurie will teach yin yoga – a slower form of yoga – and vinyasa yoga, at the studio.

As an instructor, she said it was amazing to see people get physically fit, but also grow in confidence and self-esteem.

Georgia Corr will instruct hot yoga and vinyasa classes.

She said she was apprehensive when trying hot yoga in Wellington for the first time, but quickly took to it.

Carmichael said there were no mirrors on the studio walls, to create a space where people could feel comfortable.

‘‘No-one is judging them other than the voice inside. It’s meant to be fun.

‘‘You don’t have to be good at it to get something out of it,’’ she said.

The Dharma Room will open on Saturday, March 11.