#YogaEveryDamnDay – Day 10: My Hot 26 Addiction

I think I’m veeeeery lowkey addicted to hot yoga.
I must be because I got up (and DROVE TO A STUDIO!) at 5:30am to do it.

Usually, I wouldn’t get up at that ungodly hour for a regular-degular flow class. I can do that at home around 8am like a normal human. I made an exception for today’s class. This session was what’s known in the hot yoga community as the Hot 26 – a series of poses that are performed twice over during the practice. Although I’ve been doing yoga since I was in third grade, I’ve never taken the time to work on my technique until my forties.

Yoga isn’t just about stretching and breath (although those are two key components, especially the latter). It’s about feeling intentionally how each pose fits in your body, to understand your limit, the demarcation line between pressure and pain. Hot 26 gives me an opportunity to get intimately acquainted with how every inch of my body feels in practice. It also reminds me to quiet that competitive voice in my head that chides me when I fall out of a pose or stagger in my balance. I’m hitting up another Hot 26 class this Saturday – yes, in the morning, but not five freakin’ thirty! I even found a few videos on YouTube so that I can practice the poses at home anytime I want. Hot 26 is officially my homegirl!

Now, on to today’s practice:

The Instructor: Christa Janine of Christa Janine Fitness
The Practice: Vinyasa Flow (30 minutes)

I have fallen down the Christa Janine rabbithole! I got obsessed with her last week when I saw her pop up in my Instagram feed (a platform on which you should follow me, BTDubbs). She ticked my boxes because I’m always looking for Black yoga instructors with curvy bodies. so I was thrilled to find this workout during my cyberstalking of this gorgeous bendy woman. To my yogi newbies out there – do not let the ‘advanced’ label deter you: she has two awesome modifiers in this practice so you can do you. I look forward to featuring her again on the blog because YES PLZ to more Black women of size doing the yoga!

See you on the mat tomorrow!
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