Hot Yoga: A Balancing Act

Anyone who knows me well knows that I identity as a climber. My pronouns are “I climb”, “me climber”, and “myself loves to climb”. Now please don’t mistake my enthusiasm as anything that resembles natural talent; I have to work very hard to be a mediocre climber. And despite my lack of inborn aptitude for the sport, it is something that fills up my proverbial bucket. I love the physicality of the movements, the wildness of it, and the mental discipline that climbing requires. When I am out in the mountains for a big day, weather or nightfall approaching, trying to navigate some dicey move (for me) 500 feet off the deck, it puts me into a flow state that requires all parts of me; a perfect balancing act between disparate aspects of my human experience. And for some reason I just love that. 

Before I moved to Oregon to attend chiropractic school, I lived in Colorado. If you asked my family they all would tell you that I moved there for my first finance job out of college. But truth be told, I moved there because the climbing was exceptional. My position as a low-level consultant at Anderson was project based so when I wasn’t on a project I didn’t have to go into office. Equipped with a giant and early iteration of a cell phone, I just had to be “on call” if my project manager ever needed me. And they never did.

Not long after arriving in Colorado, I met Jason, who became my ever-enthusiastic climbing partner. Jason lived in a storage unit, and other than the accounting job he despised, he didn’t have much else going on. Consequently, he was always keen for a climbing adventure. In the winter, with ice axes strapped to our packs, the two of us skied miles into snowy peaks. And in the summer, we threw ourselves, shirtless, at every hunk of rock along the front range.  Colorado was turning out to be good for me, and good for my climbing. 

Gigi was an obstetrical intern at the local hospital, and we met when she was smack dab in the middle of a grueling residency. Gigi’s indentured servitude occurred right before the laws were enacted restricting the number of hours a resident could work. When she wasn’t working a 14-hour shift - she slept; occasionally waking to eat, or snuggle up to me on the couch to watch a movie, most of which she slept through. She also wasn’t a climber. But that didn’t bother me one bit because I already had a dedicated climbing partner in Jason, a job I barely had to attend to, and a girlfriend who was mostly asleep or working – I had found some sort of balance in life which left me a lot of time to climb. 

When residents reach their fourth and final year they can be placed on the more desirable day shifts while being required to work less hours overall. Gigi was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That light also began to illuminate the reality that I wasn’t around very much. As she came out of a 3-year fog of sleep deprivation she began to formulate the opinion that our budding relationship would be better served by spending some of our free time together. One sunny spring morning as I was quietly sneaking out the backdoor, my climbing pack slung over my youthful and muscular shoulder, the aspiring nubile physician caught me in the kitchen. In her very sweet way she asked if instead of climbing I might like to go to new “hot yoga studio” with her. “Yoga instead of climbing? What are you nuts?”, were the words my brain wanted to construct - but by the age of 26 I had a newly formed prefrontal cortex which somehow stopped those words from forming on my lips. Instead I nodded, and lowered my climbing pack onto our back porch. Climbing could wait, I would go try out this new “hot yoga” with my girlfriend.

I had been to a few “regular” yoga classes in college in Flagstaff, another place I moved under false pretenses; this time under the illusion of gaining an undergraduate education (coincidentally, the climbing is exceptional there also). But I had never tried “hot yoga”. This new phenomenon was also known as Bikram Yoga. Bikram was a guru type from India who brought his particular series of 26 postures, in a very hot room, to the US in places like LA and Chicago. In the early 2000’s Bikram studios were popping up everywhere and there happened to be one down the street from the apartment Gigi and I shared. 

The studio she took me to was quite a place; beautiful wood floors, high ceilings, and a ton of natural light. It also happened to be populated with Colorado’s most natural and beautiful people. I felt instantly at home in this scene full of people interested in exercise, health and wellness. And after I experienced the wonderful feeling of spending 90 minutes stretching and lengthening nearly every muscle in my body I was hooked. Giving up a little bit of climbing to go to yoga with Gigi felt like it brought me, and my relationship, more into balance. 

I ended up doing over 100 classes in that Denver Studio and it left a deep impression on me. Hot yoga became a natural addition to my fitness routine, allowing me greater flexibility and strength which ultimately made me a better climber. I also found that I could achieve a deep sense of relaxation not only in my muscles and skeletal structure but in my soul and spirit by spending time in a hot yoga practice once a week. 

Ever since my time in Denver, hot yoga has flitted in and out of my world. My wife Samae and I did our time in Portland in a fabulous studio up the street from our old craftsman home off of Hawthorne. In the days before children we would find time to get a few hot yoga classes in each week warding off the cold, wet weather with 90 minutes of heat, stretching and sweat. It also became something we liked to do together – a shared interest in our relationship. 

Since moving to Ashland, it has been less of a part of my world. Running a busy practice, raising kids and the complexity of the rest of life, has at times, pulled me out of balance in my routines. And throughout that whole time I could feel the hole that a lack of yoga created in my overall wellness. Imagine my delight a few weeks ago when I discovered that, here in Ashland, my  favorite yoga teacher has opened a brand-new hot yoga studio! Mia Ferrell is now the owner of Aryze Yoga located on the corner of A and Oak streets. Mia has created a lovely and inviting space that offers classes every day of the week. 

Coming back to this practice, what I realize that I still love about hot yoga is the way I feel more in balance when I am consistently adding it to my exercise routine. I have greater flexibility not only physically but mentally and emotionally - to deal with the things in life that try to throw me off balance.  It feels like my body, mind and spirit all get wrung out like a wet washcloth by the end of the class. I’ve always thought that a 90-minute hot yoga class  is the equivalent of a sauna, a Thai massage, and a Pilates session in every class. It really feels like quite a value for 90 minutes of your time. And it leaves me in this state that I can only describe as “delicious exhaustion”. 

If you read have my book The Virus and The Host you already know that I am a big fan of sweating for detoxification. When we sweat we dump metals, mycotoxins, plastics, glyphosate and other toxic compounds out through our skin. All chronic disease is associated with some degree of a toxic state in the body so hot yoga is a great way to ward off the diseases that plague us. 

Hot yoga is not for everyone – like anytime of exercise it can feel like a bit of an acquired taste. It can feel very physically strenuous but you can always lay down, rest, or quietly walk out of the room to cool down and gather up some strength before the next round of postures. Mia is excellent at offering up gentle suggestions for modifications to postures or ways to make it through the class. I do think everyone can benefit from yoga as it is one of the most efficient ways to keep the largest organ system in our body, our musculoskeletal system, in balance. 

I highly suggest that everyone try it, at least once. Many of you may find a new love and new place of balance in this wonderful activity that I love so much. 

Good Luck and Good Health,
Dr. Chris Chlebowski