Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hot yoga can help you maintain a healthy, active life at any age
Getting up in years can be particularly frustrating for those who have led active lives. But it doesn’t mean you have to lie down and surrender to the changes time brings to your body. Just ask Scott Pitts, founder of NWA Hot Yoga. His own inspirational story is living proof. Scott was a successful Marketing Executive in Southern California living the high life. He was also leading a very active lifestyle doing almost 100 marathons and three iron man triathlons. And then, his life changed. “When I was 41 I went to an orthopedic surgeon in Los Angeles about my knee and he said ‘you have two choices: knee replacement or hot yoga,” Scott said. “So I went to this hot yoga studio in Beverly Hills where I was the fat, heavy breather guy in the back of the room. I was a total fish out of water. I felt intimated and more deflated every visit but was determined to not give up!“
And after three consistent years of hot yoga and sixty pounds lighter, his knees were in the best condition of his life, more flexible and stronger than before and knee replacement was no longer necessary. Scott was so inspired by the power of hot yoga that he decided to become a registered yoga teacher so he could share what he had learned and transform the lives of others. And he wanted to open his practice in Northwest Arkansas, the home of his youth.
Scott knew the kind of yoga experience he wanted to create.
“The yoga studios in Beverly Hills where I started were pretty pretentious,” he said. “I make sure that when people
come here they are comfortable and feel good about themselves.”
It is this approach that generated the mantra of
NWA Hot Yoga: Start where you are, use what you have and do what you can and it will be enough. Everybody, wherever they are in their yoga journey, is welcome at NWA Hot Yoga.
“The people I want to reach out to are people that were very active like I was when I was younger,” Scott continued. “As you get into your 50s and 60s you can’t still be doing iron man competitions or running marathons, you body just isn’t able to maintain that level of activity. But yoga can be the key to opening up a new kind active lifestyle.”
It is also amazing for the brain. “I work with a lot of early onset Alzheimer and dementia patients and I have seen some noticeable results,” Scott said. “Yoga means union. And that union begins with breath and body, that’s where the power is. That’s when you start to feel better and think clearer.”
NWA Hot Yoga has an introductory offer with a price that’s hard to beat – only $20 for three classes, that’s less than $7 a class. For those considering teaching yoga, The NWA Yoga School has trained almost 100 teachers and is accredited by the Yoga Alliance International. They are now accepting applications for their next session that begins March 27.
NWA Hot Yoga is located at 2308 SE 28th St #1, Bentonville, AR 72712. Phone: (213) 840-8705. Open 7 days a week, for class schedules go to nwahotyoga.com