I started hot yoga at the Bonita studio in 2016, when I was 43. As someone who was fairly fit and would run 3 miles a couple times a week, I didn't know what to expect my first class. I thought the heat wouldn't be much of an obstacle so I went into the hot room without water. During my first 90 minutes in the hot room, I had to take a kneel 3 times because I felt faint or nauseated. After the class, it took 30 minutes before I could drive--I was literally hit by the yoga truck. Something about what I experienced struck a chord in me and I knew my body was out of balance. I went twice a week for the next three months and was scared every time I walked through the door because it took everything I had to make it through another 90 minutes of heat. After three months, my body was balancing out. Mentally, I noticed I was more calm and became less bothered by traffic, e.g. Eight months into the practice, my eating habits naturally changed and I didn't crave or want foods that tempted me in the past.

By the second year, I was going 3--4 times a week and turned 45. My body matched the body I had at age 25. As I continued on in the practice, I noticed how over time, it does de-age, detoxify, and de-stress. Last year I turned 50 and had full blood work done at the doctor's along with a scan of my organs and an EKG. Everything turned out great. The doctor made mention of one thing in particular: my electrolyte levels. He said they were pretty spectacular and was amazed at those levels at my age. I'm 51 and still wear the same size as I did in my 20s. To this day I haven't had to be on any medication for physical or emotional reasons. One of the things I enjoy about the hot room is I'm unplugged. Unlike gyms that have TV screens up everywhere and people are plugged into their phones, the hot room offers purity in solitude. I am in the room with just my mat and water. For 90 minutes I am the object and the subject.

Our mental fitness is just as important as our physical fitness. With hot yoga I find balance. You can, too. I encourage everyone to give the practice a chance and know what it's like to find your stillness.

- Jessica G.