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Be Confident of Your Body's Potential

Yoga, which grew out of East Indian religious practices, has become one of the most popular fitness regimes in Beijing during the past two years. The whole city is fascinated with it, especially local and foreign women aged 20-40. Of all the yoga courses available, "hot" yoga is particularly fancied this summer. To explore the glamour of hot yoga, we interviewed people at one of Beijing's professional yoga clubs.

The moment one enters a hot yoga classroom, one can sense the heat waves emanating from the participants' bodies. The temperature was about 40˚C, just like a sauna. Liu Chengyao, a coach at The Zen Place Yoga Club, said: "High temperature is the most striking characteristic of hot yoga. In this hot environment, one's body can much more easily stretch. Take the example of steel; steel is more easily curved under high temperatures and so is the human body. This leads to a better result than that of typical yoga. The body will become nimble and soft in a relatively short time."

Arriving on the Chinese mainland about four years ago, hot yoga had won broad acceptance by late 2004. In Beijing, almost all the yoga clubs and some of fitness centres have launched hot yoga courses. And some yoga clubs have more hot yoga courses than typical yoga courses. For hot yoga courses, special equipment, mainly a heating system, is essential. These can be obtained directly from factories in Beijing. Also, humidifiers and ventilators are needed to keep the air fresh.

Liu said, "Eighty percent the people who have practiced hot yoga fell in love with it after several classes. Currently, we have at least two hot yoga classes every day, a large increase compared with two years ago. To ensure the effect, there should be no more than 25 people in any class."

During class, if the temperature rises higher than 40˚C, the heating system will shut off automatically. After the body and all the joints become soft, there is less harm to the body when doing exercises. While sweating heavily, the trash and toxins hidden in the body are quickly dissipated. Blood circulation quickens, which is quite good for people with slow blood circulation in nerve endings. And for those with rheumatoid arthritis, they may heal after a period of practice.

"There is always a misunderstanding that only people who are agile can practice yoga well. Actually, everyone should feel confident of their body's potential. If their bodies are not nimble, they simply need more practice." Liu said. "At first, many came here to ease the pressures of their daily lives and to improve their fitness. Later, they find that they become more gentle and tranquil, and are always in a good mood. Finally, they obtain the great harmony of body and mind. This might be what people need to achieve in their lives."