Testimonials:--------- Dear Hot House Yoga instructors, I just wanted to thank you all for a great summer of hot yoga/vinyasa. I will be moving up to New York City tomorrow to start Podiatry school in September. Six weeks ago, I walked into your studio in the worst shape I have been in years. I was looking for a new activityto provide a smooth transition into running again. What I found was a keystone to my running success. This past May, I graduated from Wake Forest University where I ran XC and track. I was plagued with a series of injures, which seemed completely incurable and left me rather disappointed. After an eight month layoff, I started running five weeks ago and I could not be more pleased with my progress. Honestly, I give hot yoga complete credit for increasing my range of motion and eliminating my subtle imbalances. My legs feel phenomenal on every run and I have a little popin my stride which had disappeared somewhere in college. You guys have me running injury free-a feat which numerous top-notch physicians and alternative medicine gurus had been unable to accomplish. Running and competing means the world to me, so I am very grateful I fell upon your studio. I most certainly intend to continue my yoga practice forever. Take care and I wish you all the best of luck! ~Selina --------- I just wanted to thank you so much for making this wonderful experience even better with your encouragement and truly caring words. I feel so good both physically and mentally when I leave your class. You have given me the most precious gift of your spirit that is healing my body and soul. I am so amazed by how great I feel. From my heart … I thank you, ~N --------- Was I up for meeting the Challenge? I didn't even know what challenge we were talking about!! I'd been less than a regular at yoga lately - personal crises, time constraints, all the usual excuses had kept me from my mat despite how good it made me feel to take the time for myself. I've been doing yoga for almost nine years. It was one of the few quiet "Mom Times" I could find with triplet preschoolers. Now they are teenagers, and yoga still provides me with a respite from being chauffeur, referee, and cook. Seriously, the thought of three classes a week sounded tempting and do-able, especially on the cold dreary day that I signed up for it. Today, with spring in bloom and the days getting longer, I can't think of a better way to have spent the last three months. Each week, as I planned out my schedule to make sure that it included three classes, I realized that I was putting myself in amongst the "important" commitments. When I got to class, I felt like I was honoring a promise that I had made to myself. Over the weeks, I watched myself become more flexible, mindful, and balanced. I changed my diet to accommodate my class schedule ( my usual morning latte's caffeine interfered with my balancing poses ). I was proud of myself. When the time came to check off the class that I attended this past Monday, I was shocked to find out that all the weeks were finished and I had met the Challenge! But now, it is a habit, and I'm going to continue to meet the challenge that I am giving myself because it really made a difference. Thanks Hot House Yoga.~S --------- I felt in my heart to share a testimony to you…John, Chris, Melissa and Sarah. I am going on my third year as a student of yours. Yoga was not as easy for me as some would think. When I first started yoga with Melissa, I could not even touch the floor with the tips of my fingers. I was out of shape, about 35 pounds overweight, a recently ex-smoker, and a mother of a pre-teen and 3 teenagers. I have a crazy work schedule, which is on average of 45-60 hours a week, and I live 45 miles away. I made a personal commitment to myself to practice 4-5 times a week. I remember my first several months. Every class was hard. Each class I was always amazed that I lived through it. In the beginning, it was the encouraging words of Melissa that kept me coming back. I would be in a modified posture and Melissa would encourage me to go further. She would say, you can do it, and she was right. As time went on I was doing things I thought I would never be able to do. It is all mind over body. I get the same message from John, Chris, and Sarah. Although they are different teachers with their own individual styles, each teacher is challenging yet kind and compassionate, and always encouraging. I was traveling this past week and I visited another yoga studio. It was a nice studio and the teacher taught the same 26 postures as the other 5 similar studios I have been to in my travels. I was amazed at how easy the practice was for me. I was not hot and I flowed through the practice without thought. I looked around the room to see the other yogi's practicing with me. Everyone was dripping with sweat and panting hard. My first thoughts were that I must be on the wrong side of the room, but the lady beside me was also dripping with sweat too. I wanted to go further in the postures, but I did not out of respect for the teacher and the type of studio. I had to behave. The next day I drove four and a half hours back to Hot House to make my 6:30pm practice. WOW, what a difference! The room was mat to mat packed with people. It was HOT! The energy in the room was incredible. During my practice I could not stop thinking how blessed I am to practice yoga with such great teachers. I can explore the unknown without fear. You show me my true potential, the things I can not see I have within me. You tell me I can do it. You push me to an edge I never would have tried without you showing me how to get there. You have not set boundaries with just 26 postures. Every day is similar but you mix things up a bit. We try new postures. We are allowed to advance. I am very grateful for this. The 26 same postures are good when you are a beginner. Without you, I would be stuck as a beginner without even knowing there is so much more. I have grown and continue to grow from the inside out in mind, body, and spirit. Thank you for being the wonderful teachers you are. You have blessed many people through your teachings. Namaste, --------- I want to thank you for being here in so many ways. I had tried hot yoga a few times before moving to the US from Australia last year, but the style or the tuition, the atmosphere or whatever it was – for some reason, it just didn’t feel right. In fact, most of the time, I found the classes tedious, uncomfortable and uninspiring. After dropping in to Hot House, even a few times randomly, I absolutely felt the difference Recently, I felt compelled to pursue my practice in a regular and applied way – having lived here for almost a year now (most of the time feeling desolate, stressed out and confused) I had really reached a very low, lost place and felt a deep craving for spirituality, for peace, relaxation, guidance. I wandered into a sacred music classes – the energy in the room was dazzling and the song (my ‘if-I-had-to-listen-to-one-song-forever-that-would-be-it’ song!), Delirium’s ‘silence’ was playing and I was just instantly transported. Two (in fact most) passages quoted from Journey To The Heart – ‘Trust The Unknown’, and ‘Leave When It’s Time To Go’ – resonated with me so completely that I couldn’t even hold back the tears, lucky it was a dark room. Everything suddenly made sense – I realized that, if being here in the US was making me feel so miserable, I just needed to listen to my heart, and to go home – even if to most people that might seem not the wisest or most strategic thing to do. I’ve looked forward to every day that I can possibly make it to class and observed true benefits manifest in my mind and my body. My spirit has been so freed, all of my senses and perceptions, heightened. Renewed. I’ve felt as if, until now, or at least for the past year, I’ve been walking around in my sleep. I’ve learned to not worry about the future, the rational, what others may see as the ‘correct’, and just trust that my body and my intuition are leading me on an unquestionable, incredible journey. And I’ve only really been coming a month! Now, three words: cold hand towels. No school I’ve been to before have done this. So simple, but the most amazing thing. Thievery Corporation – The Richest Man In Babylon – I love that CD, would never have thought of doing yoga to it, but wow, it works! Another reason I knew I’d found my kind of place to regain tranquility. Although it was coming to yoga which helped me realize that the situation here was not right for me - and that I really did need to ‘pick up, pack up, and leave’ - I am now having to move away from the practice that has taught me so much and this is overwhelming … I’ve purchased my own copy of Journey To The Heart J but if I could somehow pack this whole place in my suitcase and set it up in Melbourne I would! The effect that this yoga has had on me has made me seriously think that I would love to be a teacher too - to be in this deliciously intense and enlivened headspace everyday. What is also so refreshing is that you guys don’t take yourselves too seriously – your warmth, humor and harmony is grounding. If you can recommend any remotely equal yoga schools in Australia (Melbourne), please advise me. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with the inevitable, impending Hot House withdrawals. Keep up your amazingly inspiring classes. Thank you for appearing in my path right at the time when I was ripe for guidance, for sharing your energy when I was seeking to be healed, for helping me to be present and to honor every moment. … Maya --------- Hey Guys, I began pacticing yoga at your studio the first week you opened in late June and figured it was about time to send you a letter of thanks. I had been practicing on my own for a year and a half before but, after the first class at Hothouse, I realized all I had been doing was warming up. Since attending your classes, I have experienced all the physical benefits of yoga that you always hear about: more flexibility, strength, balance, elimination of back pain, etc I will be 50 years old in August, have had four knee surgeries, yet have become more flexible and pain free than when I was 25 (and this is just in 6 months). The physical aspect is impressive enough, but the physical part has become almost incidental to what I have come to believe is the real purpose of yoga. I am slowly (or maybe not so slowly) being transformed into a better person. My awareness is being heightened to such a level that I am becoming a much more meditative person. I am more relaxed, more thoughtful, my diet has changed, and I have more consideration for myself and others. As I have become more content, I am truly learning to appreciate the simplicity of life around me as it is and learning to just "bottle the moment." It's crazy, almost as if I have had laser surgery on my eyes and now I can see more clearly. I know that some of this would sound like rhetoric to a lot of people, but all I can do is relate my experience. I am not claiming to have reached enlightenment (yet); this growth is an ongoing process. But that's the beauty of it, I don't think you ever stop learning about yourself and life through yoga. Hothouse Yoga has been the vehicle of this change, and each of you bring something different to class and have inspired me equally. You provide a valuable service: excellent instruction, hours that accommodate anyone's schedule, and a passion for the benefits of yoga. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate it. Smitty --------- Dear Hot House Yoga, I wanted to extend my sincerest gratitude to all the members of the Hot House family. In 2004, I ran my first marathon and trained for the 2005 Shamrock Marathon. The 2005 preparation did not go as well as I had hoped. My iliotibial band became inflamed, which unfortunately stopped my training a month before the race. I researched the IT band and discovered a lack of flexibility can be a major factor in knee inflammation. In October of last year, I made improved flexibility a new goal in my fitness regime. Little did I know the number of benefits that hot yoga could instill on my physical well being. I have noticed tremendous advances in my flexibility, core/hamstring strength, balance, and speed. Injuries that have plagued me for years have virtually disappeared. Earlier this year, I ran my second Shamrock Marathon at the oceanfront. My finish time improved by TWENTY-SIX minutes! The only variable in my training was hot yoga. I am in the best shape of my life and hope to continue on this path. I can't tell you how much I enjoy the classes and look forward to a long relationship with Hot House Yoga. Thank you all again! Respectfully, L --------- Dear Hot House Yoga, Please accept this letter as a personal 'THANK YOU' for the wonderful road on which you have put me. As you know I just recently joined your Yoga program and I can't begin to explain in words what this new found practice has brought into my life. Before beginning Yoga I had almost 10 years in Tae Kwon Do and had been running for about 20. I have always been involved in sports growing up, but none of my past athletic experiences have been anything like Yoga. This wonderful practice can do so much more for oneself than just getting in shape and working out. The feeling of being more connected to the Universe, (sounds weird but is very difficult to explain) has been unlike anything I have ever felt. Yoga seems to open one up to not only feeling better but really being better. I am more motivated to work better, eat better and to hopefully have a better quality of life; which are all mental perceptions that have been heightened by Yoga. I truly believe that your studio is of the highest quality, not only in its' facilities but mostly and most importantly in your teachers. I am impressed by everyone's level of skill and professionalism. However, your greatest asset is the strength of character of the teachers and staff. I look forward to being there every day. You all have been a blessing to me personally as you have helped me find out something great about myself and I consider you dear friends whom I would help in a second. I hope one day to repay you for such a special gift. Thank you for the opportunity to grow in such a great place. Yours Truly, |
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