Maria W
March 8, 2020 18:36
I love hot yoga, I used to do it a lot in New York and I use it as a way to clear the bronchial airways and keep my lungs healthy, so I decided to give this place a try. I also invited a friend to join me and try it out. This was in January of 2020.
Pros:
Friendly front desk staff and great instructors.
Cons:
Unfortunately, it was hard to work out while trying to ignore the smell (I am being a bit polite here by using this word) of feet and the stuffy room. It is one thing that a room that is being used constantly to have a peculiar smell but as soon as I walked in through the main entrance I could smell it. I thought it was just part of the smell from the shoestand that was in the front, but as I went to the yoga room the smell got worse.
I am mindful that yoga rooms tend to have different sorts of smells from body odor, and everyone has different body hygiene, but not in an empty room. I also tried to tell myself that this was just another kind of meditation and to just power through. If this was my first rodeo I would have thought that all sweaty yoga studios smelled like that, but I have been to many hot yoga rooms and they do not.
Also, the hot room felt very stuffy, as if there were lots of dust residing under the carpeting. It was very hard to do the poses and breath deeply due to the stuffy room and the smell. When I walked out of there I felt like I needed to breath fresh air. I thought that I might have had a more heightened sense of smell that my friend, but when we compared notes we both had the same opinions about the smell and the stuffiness. However, mine was more terrifying because I am asthmatic and dust is one thing that can be a trigger, so needless to say my lungs were not happy.
Word of advice, just be prepared, especially if you buy a monthly introductory membership and cannot return after your first class, which it happened to me. I won't subject myself, or my body, to be in a room that it is already hard to begin with and then to add even more stress to my lungs by not being able to breath there.
Also, their policy does not allow for any refunds. I thought considering the circumstances, at least out of courtesy they would make an exception but this was not the case.