PEACE IN A POD
purply zen feeling: dimness and calm. The current of fresh air carries the scent of grass. It’s like a flotation pool without the water — a womblike cocoon which allows the mind to detach itself from the surrounding environment, which may be a buzzing office building.
The pod collapses into a suitcase.
Henderson visited Johannesburg for the local launch of Hotpod Yoga. He looks radiantly clean, with glowing yoga skin reflecting his crisp white shirt.
“We were fans of hot yoga, but wanted to make it accessible. People love yoga, but they aren’t always willing to battle traffic and go to a studio, then the same afterwards. It defeats the purpose of relieving stress. So we spent a long time developing the pods, which can fit either eight or 12 people, and we take it to corporates like JP Morgan, set up in the boardrooms, and people loved it. The point was to create a portable, practical and hygienic space that’s also a sublime yoga environment.”
Local yogini Daniela de Bruyn, who trained in Vinyasa yoga at a school in Maharashtra, India, brought the concept to South Africa.
She said the costs of building a hot yoga studio had her searching for a portable venue.
“I loved this idea when I saw it. Once you step inside the pod, the outside world disappears, leaving you free to focus on your body and your breath. The body gets a workout and the mind an escape from daily routines. We’re quite stressed out in South Africa, aren’t we?” she said.
Henderson said summer heat is no obstacle: hot yoga was practised all over the world, even in extreme heat. “The point is that this is a healthy heat, and the fresh air makes it easy and gentle. Of course you need to keep hydrated and use the usual precautions that you would with any form of exercise.”
De Bruyn said her class is designed to create energy, not drain you — but expect a 700-calorie burn. “It is about getting toned, in a kind of physical and psychological cocoon. You feel like you’ve escaped somewhere for a little while.” LS
Visit hotpodyoga.co.za