The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
That ‘euphoric feeling’
Practitioners say hot yoga style can promote many mind-body benefits
PORTLAND — Hot yoga might just be the cilantro of the exercise world, since many have a love or hate relationship with it, but yoga practitioners swear by its health benefits.
Yoga in general is a popular workout that works on body alignment, breathing, strength and flexibility, however, the added benefits of performing poses in a heated room further increases these effects, resulting in a deeper mind-body-spirit connection.
At Core & Restore Yoga in Portland, owner Rosanna Singer has created a welcoming community of both yogis (those proficient in yoga) and beginners that spans all age ranges.
Walking into the studio at 666
Portland Cobalt Road, one immediately gets a spa-like vibe. Eucalyptus incense is burning in a back room, and a delicate aroma wafts into the lobby, which has wooden walls inset with planters. A small buddha sculpture sits on the front desk, a nod to yoga’s origins centuries ago in India.
Classes, both heated and unheated, are held every day in varying levels. There are three levels of power yoga (hot) classes conducted in a spacious and bright room with heated panels to keep temperatures between 90 and 100 degrees.
Steam ensures practitioners get their sweat on, and the room has about 60 percent humidity. Practitioners bring in their mats and water bottles to stay hydrated during the hour-long classes while instructors guide them through a series of movements.
Stuck at home during the early days of the pandemic, practicing yoga at home, as many studios were forced to close, Singer wasn’t planning to open up a studio.
When the opportunity presented itself a year later, the timing was right and she leapt on it.
She opened her studio in September 2021, and has a busy schedule with a handful of fellow teachers and two to five classes daily. The power classes are especially popular and usually draw 15 to 25 people per class.
Singer, who practices yoga daily, has been a yogi for 12 years and has an extensive background in fitness and martial arts. She went on to achieve a black belt in karate before developing a passion for yoga.
Singer eagerly touts the health benefits of yoga, especially power yoga. “It builds strength, flexibility and endurance. The hot power classes challenge you both physically and mentally,” she said, noting that people are moving around a hot room, unlike Bikram-style classes, where one does the same 26 poses.
The hot vinyasa (flow) style classes, set to music, emphasize sequential, or dynamic, movements between postures and stretches while controlling one’s breathing. The focus is on linking breath to movements.
“It is a great, great workout for your body, mind and soul. The key is the heat gets into your joints and your muscles,” Singer said. “When you first step into the room, you can feel it, and it goes into your joints and makes your muscles feel nice when you are moving. Sometimes, it feels really good, and you have to be careful and back off because you could overextend your muscles and hurt yourself.”
Besides the physical challenges, there are also mental challenge of being able to stay in the hot room for an hour. A friend suggested the studio to Adrienne Gervais of Glastonbury, who has been practicing yoga for over 10 years. “I just feel like the heat adds a whole other mind element.
“You have to really focus and not let it distract you. I feel like it’s an extra challenge,” Gervais said. “If you ever have a day where you feel like you can’t do something, or you realize something might be a challenge, come to hot yoga, because you realize for that hour, you can pretty much do anything if you can get through this class.”
Singer acknowledges not everyone loves the hot classes and some might be apprehensive to try it. “I don’t think you know until you really try it, and you can’t just try it one time. You have to try it a few times. You have to kind of give it three months to see the benefits.”
Those who can do hot power yoga classes can do any yoga class, she said.
Also praising the difference classes can make is Stephanie Darrow of Essex, a onetime walker and runner who injured her Achilles tendon and then took up hot yoga. “Now, I have something that gives me that euphoric workout feel,” she said. Classes also force her to be disciplined and focused in the moment, Darrow added.
Dave Mendelson of Middletown and his wife attended Core & Restore power classes several times a week for a year. “The flexibility is very important. I really notice when I don’t do it,” he said.
“When I skip class for a week or two, I feel stiffer,” Mendelson explained. “If I do yoga consistently, I just move through the day better. It’s the little things I notice: It’s easier to bend and move my body straight out of bed and my core is so much stronger.”
For information, visit corerestoreyoga.com.