I quit my boring gym membership and took up hot yoga instead

I was also getting used to the heat (around 35-38 degrees celsius), when I walked into the studio, it felt cosy, rather than like I was stepping into a sauna. For each class, I took my own yoga mat, a full-sized towel, a hand-towel to dab my sweat away and a BIG water bottle – all absolute essentials. The studio has mats, straps, blocks and water available if you need it.

The Good Rooms offer a variety of different classes including; FLOW- your generic vinyasa flow, BLISS – a calming class, RESET – a class done mostly on the floor and one of my personal favourites, YIN AND GONG – 45 minutes of slow yoga followed by a 25 minute gong bath. One of which actually had me uncontrollably giggling to myself. Sound baths are supposed to send you into a euphoric state of meditation, but during this one class, at least three people fell asleep and snored the whole time. Apparently, this is quite common with group sound baths. Other than that, these classes were so calming and they really did send me into deep relaxation.

When I’m just at the gym, I barely pay any attention at all to my breathing. The Hot Yoga instructors would encourage you to breathe in a certain rhythm that matches the positions and speed. This meant I was paying much more attention to my body than I usually would. Each pose gives you a chance to feel stretching, cramping, shaking – what needs more attention, where do I need to send my breath to.

While it was amazing to feel the physical benefits of hot yoga and feeling the thrill of hundreds of calories burning away each time, it was the mental benefits I valued the most. I’d never usually set any time during the day to be alone with just my thoughts, I’d usually be watching tv or scrolling through TikTok. The no-phone rule, that at first I wasn’t sure about, became something I actually highly appreciated. The fifteen minutes before each class, lying flat (savasana pose) in silence, gave me some clarity over my thoughts. I allowed thoughts to come and pass me by, putting them to the side to give myself some headspace. It was this that was missing in my regular gym membership.