It's been over two years since we last did a cool-as-hell piece on the burgeoning urban trend of hot yoga, which has taken off all over the country. The reasons for the meteoric rise in the popularity of this up-and-coming style of yoga are very different from those of the quiet rural tradition it is attempting to mimic and are sometimes difficult to discern.
Basically, what the hot yoga movement entails is the set up of a luxurious bubble of air conditioning around a room. At the same time, practitioners concentrate their physical movements onto the air-conditioned space in order to support healing and mind expansion. By doing so, the ancient method of aura's projection and breathing exercises are amplified through.
When we attended an outdoor class in a local park, for example, a woman seated in a park bench with a picnic basket opened over her head reported that she was able to get down on her hands and knees and manipulate her body so much better because the air conditioner was on. It was great, she said, and it made her feel like a naughty kid on his first day at the amusement park.
The general thought among hot yoga enthusiasts is that it has lots of psychological benefits. You will enjoy a healthy diet and exercise and, at the same time, you'll have a real cool place to be during the summer. You'll be able to stay out all day, and at the end of the day when you can finally open up the air-conditioned room, you'll feel great, too.
The experience of traveling to a place with a touch of the exotic is something that's kind of similar to being en route to a "Disney World" kind of trip. The highs are great and the lows are a little lower. On the whole, it's a pretty good time.
In fact, the whole downtown area of Seattle, in its most modern incarnation, has become one of the hottest yoga places in the country. You don't even have to be in Seattle to find out why this is.
The hotel industry is looking at this segment of the market with a bit of jealousy, as it has never had such a flood of people flock to it before. This is a big hit to the hotel industry, and the people that run them are thrilled about it. People are flying in from all over the country to see what's new at the downtown center, and some people are paying hundreds of dollars to take classes there.
With the recent opening of the Starwood, the Marriott and the other large hotel block all know that they are losing their best customers. This is just what they've been waiting for.
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