As the temperature rises at the YogaBody studio, the sweatbegins to drip down the faces of eager students ready to exercise.Some like it hot, and at YogaBody, heat is the new trend in theyoga world and has finally made its way to Baton Rouge. YogaBody, ayoga center in the Southdown’s Shopping Center on PerkinsRoad, only teaches classes in a heated environment.
Kim Matsko is one of the instructors at YogaBody. Last January,Matsko moved to Baton Rouge from New York and brought some of theBig Apple’s trends with her.
A typical classroom temperature could be heated anywhere from 90to 93 degrees Fahrenheit, Matsko said.
“Heat helps the muscles to loosen up so you are moreflexible,” Matsko said. “Heat keeps you warm andloosens the body so you don’t have to work so hard. Peoplelike to sweat.”
Matsko said hot yoga, formally known as Bikram yoga, is a styleof yoga that is always in a heated room and involves a series of 26poses. Each position is usually performed twice and held for ashort period of time. At YogaBody, different yoga styles are mixedand incorporated into one class.
Upon entering the YogaBody studio, Sanskrit chanting can beheard through the speakers. Matsko said the Sanskrit music isspiritual and puts the students in the mood for yoga class.Sanskrit is the language of ancient India, yoga’s country oforigin.
The YogaBody studio has an earthy feel with its sage greenwalls, taupe carpeting and subtle music playing in the background.Matsko has her mat in front of a mirrored wall while the studentssit on their mats to face her and mimic her yoga poses.
Matsko used to be a skeptic of yoga and was talked into going toa class by her friends in New York.
“My friends talked me into starting yoga,” Matskosaid. “I just couldn’t believe how they had changedmentally and physically, there was this wholeness about them, so Iwent one time and when I walked out I felt enlightened and havebeen practicing [yoga] ever since.”
“I’ve grown almost a whole inch and my eyesight isbetter,” Matsko said. “I’ve encountered the mostamazing changes in myself.”
One theory is that babies do yoga and breathing exercises bynature but learn bad habits as they age.
“As babies we do yoga naturally,” Matsko said.”We sit up perfectly straight, our hips are open, we breatheproperly, but as time goes on we learn bad habits and with yoga, wereverse the aging process.”
Some may be skeptical of all the heat since the weather in BatonRouge is sweltering enough.
“I put the fan on so there is circulation and so no onewill pass out,” Matsko said. “Believe it or not, butthe heat actually helps the body to not overheat because the bodyadjusts to the temperature.”
According to Matsko, heat increases the heart rate which makesfor a better cardio workout.
Brittney Hathorne is a student at Our Lady of the Lake Collegestudying nursing and attends classes at YogaBody regularly.
“I’ve tried to practice at home [in the airconditioning] and it’s not the same at all,” Hathornesaid. “The heat loosens your muscles and you are more limberso you can do things you couldn’t normally do in coldertemperatures.”
Hathorne practices hot yoga at YogaBody and attends classesthree times a week. Hot yoga is her only exercise routine and shehas lost 10 pounds since February.
“I feel clear-headed when I leave class,” Hathornesaid. “It has definitely opened my eyes to a differentperspective on spiritualism.”