lol so k maybe I don’t look like starlight but ya know.
Every time I travel back to WI and take advantage of a handful of 26+2 classes, I can’t help but think that it’d be so great to have a similar hot yoga studio near to me. It is my favorite public class to do on the regular, for so many reasons- some of which I’ll include here. Along with a few others. But not all yoga studios are created equal, and the same is true for those offering “original hot” or 26+2.
I don’t really want to get into all of the iterations or all of the controversy and conflict of that here. Mostly, I want to articulate what I think works best, and why. One of the appeals of the 26+2 series, done in its original 90 minute or in a 60 minute format, is that it really is accessible to most. You can be brand new, or be working through your 1000+ class, and the practice will challenge you, right where you’re at. And not with what’s happening on the outside, but by unearthing and holding space for what is going down on the inside. A great hot studio (or any studio really) is a neutral space. Primarily free of unexplained or non-contextualized iconography and domineering or off-putting instructor personalities. It is completely possible for a yoga space to honor the history and lineage of a method without alienating people of different backgrounds, beliefs, and orientations. It is completely possible for a teacher to be 100% authentically themselves without derailing or compromising the mood of the class with their personality.
It is my opinion that when a yoga space adds too many esoteric or hybridized or sound-healing-aura-cleansing-booty-shaking-interpretive-primal-screaming classes, it is no longer accessible to the majority of folks and instead has become off-putting. I was 100% brought up and indoctrinated in all things esoteric and this kind of environment is alienating to me too. Too much noise/mayhem on the outside, and it’s gonna be that much more difficult to come alive to my inner world, which debatably is the whole point and purpose anyway.
So, I long for this kinda space. Clear and open. That you can drop in to and feel confident in what you are gonna get. Reliable and consistent. And if not always excellent, never a flop. With a pristine heating system that’s cranked for some classes and at a slight hum for others. Where everyone comes to engage in the practice. Not because they want to be teachers or even yogis necessarily, but because they want to move and breathe and be still with themselves for an hour or 90-minutes in a way that helps them feel less stressed and more connected. I want it to be a space where I wouldn’t be surprised to see my neighbor or my postal worker or another parent or any one at all. I want it to be a place that is affordable, especially to locals, yoga teachers, students, LGBTQ and BIPOC friends, veterans, and that also supports families by having a couple of classes a week that offer childcare.
I asked a bunch of folks recently what they love about hot yoga, I’m gonna share that, but before I do I want to share what I love. I came to the 26+2 15 years into my practice and 12 years into teaching. And even though that was over a decade ago now, I still feel new to it. I love that. And I love the way that in each class, when I’m staring down my own eyes in the mirror, I gotta spend a little time getting right with myself. It’s like this ritual of mental self-wrestling the precedes dropping the bullshit. Every time. There becomes a point where I just can’t hang onto what ever junk story I have been telling myself if I want to make it through the class. I gotta let go. Plus, I love sweating so much that it feels like even my brain gets wrung out, and I walk outta there feeling like starlight. Clear, clean, calm, and new. Each time I have to forgive myself and begin again and there is nothing so humbling as that act repeated, every single time.
Here are a few shares from some friends about what they love about the hot. It’s just a smattering. I know there is a lot more to say. I’ve been saying a lot on and off for the better part of the last ten years here and in other spaces. In the archives as they say. I’d love to hear what you love too if you’d like. Here ya go:
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The repetition.
The work of increasing my endurance in the face of physical/mental discomfort.
Aka, not running away because things are hard or uncomfortable.
It's a relief to drop into that structure. (And then it's a relief to go back out in the cool air!)
I feel so *aligned* afterwards in many ways. Mentally.
Physically. To my Self.
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I’ll wrap it up today with this: I have never particularly been drawn to teaching this style. I have often incorporated what I’ve learned in this practice into similar postures (and to the space between postures) in my classes. I’ve also encouraged my students to explore classes with some of the teachers I have enjoyed the most. Once, and for a real sweet moment in history, I even had someone I was learning a ton from at the time come lead some group practices to my core student group. It was so awesome and we all look back on that time as one rich in exploration and learning. So it’s both kinda hilarious and exactly right that 25 years into my practice and 20+ years into teaching I am going to get certified next month to offer the beloved 26+2. It feels like a really definitive move for me to make. I have generally felt most comfortable on the fringes of various methods and modalities and so to stake a claim feels big and bold. But I also get the sense that a new season is upon me when it comes to sharing yoga, and this may very well not be the last certification//training I go after in the near future. So anyhow. Adding more to the cup while trying to keep it all as earnest and pure as I can. Like that.