Daily photo - 5: Benefits of Hot Yoga

Breeze Yoga is now a regular feature in my weekly routine. Last year I got into doing yoga at the Crystal Palace Sports Centre and Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre.

This year (on my birthday, in February) I went to the next level by doing hot yoga in a studio, and have been enjoying it since. It has really made a difference for my mind and body.

The first time I went to the class, which was Hot Flow yoga I was struck by how hot the room was. I had previously been doing Hot Yoga at Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre, but it was only when I went to Breeze that I knew what "hot" meant.

The room was 40 degreesC. Within a few minutes sweat was pouring down my body.

The receptionist had asked me if I had a sweat towel, to which I replied yes, and showed her my mini towel that I had been used to using at the Streatham sessions. However, for this class the small red towel was useless. It might as well have been a small handkerchief! So in no time I had a pool of sweat on the floor around me. This was hardcore. I felt a bit self-conscious, but in fact everyone was pouring with sweat too - the men, that bit more! So I didn't feel so bad.

The skill level of the other participants in the class was quite high, with some people being able to do the splits and go into headstands, while I struggled to do basic hip opener exercises. The class lasted 90 minutes, which was 30 minutes longer than I was used to, and a few times I needed to just lie down in child's pose to take a breather.

I wasn't bothered though, and I don't think other people were either. They were just encouraging and welcoming. So I have been going to the various other classes they have - Hot Thai Yoga, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and a bit of Pilates.

The main reason why I stepped up the yoga was because I wanted to stay injury free in my preparation for the Paris Marathon. Furthermore, now that I have turned 50 I can feel my body getting stiffer and older especially with being hunched over handlebars while cycling, or sitting at a desk. So, it is just a way to slow down the decline.

Benefits of Hot Yoga according to Women's Health magazine are:

• It makes you more flexible
• It's a good cardio work-out
• Reduces stress
• Increases lung capacity
• Burns calories and promotes weight loss

Many articles have been written about the benefits of hot yoga. Interestingly, when I consulted the scientific evidence for this it was stated that although there was a trend towards these benefits, more studies are needed to show that Hot Yoga really does confer these benefits.

Well, if it is just a placebo effect I don't mind because whatever it is I do feel better after a session in a Hot Yoga studio. I have hardly had any post-run soreness in my legs compared with previous years; my IT band is not so tight after cycling; I think I might be becoming a little flexible. So, I think that's reason enough to continue with Hot Yoga. Namaste!


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One day one photo - 26: Yoga Rebel

I know it's a clothing brand based in London, but that's the only photo I could find that summed up my experience.

It was one of those days I guess. I am a member of a local gym at Crystal Palace, and as it is part of the Better network of sport centres I can also attend other sport centres within that network.

I was really in need of getting in a yoga class, especially with the increased amount of running I've been doing. It seems that everyone else also is really in need of yoga as the classes get booked up very quickly so I often end up being on the waiting list in case of cancellations. So that was the case today - I was on the waiting list for Hot Yoga at Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre or Yoga at Crystal Palace.

To my luck a place became available at both classes simultaneously, so I had to choose. I generally prefer Hot Yoga, but given that the Yoga class was happening much nearer to my home, and would be starting and therefore finishing earlier in the evening than the Hot Yoga class I plumped for Hot Yoga.

Unfortunately, train delays from London to Crystal Palace occurred and I ended up arriving at the Sport Centre a few minutes late. Then the machines for printing off receipts weren't working, there was a massive queue to get through reception so I consequently arrived at my class almost 10 minutes late.

Understand that I don't like arriving late to classes, but this one couldn't be helped. I entered the room via the back door, and went to pick up a mat at the back of the room. However, the teacher decided I couldn't join in, even though my arrival did not cause a disturbance because I was at the back of the room.

"No you can't join in," she said. "You are bringing negative energy." I was very surprised to be refused entry, particularly as another woman had arrived late a few minutes before me. Often when people are late the instructors are quite accommodating. But this instructor wasn't. "If you don't leave I will stop the class," she ordered. This wasn't reasonable, I thought. I had dashed over in good faith to do the class, I hadn't caused any disruption. Surely it was easier for her to just continue on and ignore me as I wasn't making any noise.

Well, I decided that I had dashed back to do yoga, and that was what I was going to do. So I took my mat, placed it on the ground and lay down.

The instructor was furious and immediately said that she was stopping the class and would call the management. There then ensued a farcical situation where she called the management and then told some trumped up story about how I had burst into the room, making loads of noise and wouldn't leave when asked. Also, because I had unfortunately not been able to get a receipt due to the machines not working she claimed that I had arrived at the class and hadn't paid, so shouldn't be there.

Of course, I had paid - I had membership. But I wasn't going to give my details or even my name because she was asking the management to revoke my membership for disruptive behaviour! So that gave more support to her claim that I was a disruptive freeloader.

The management didn't know who to believe or what to do. Meanwhile, the other participants in the class were getting restive and annoyed. A lot of them took the side of the yoga teacher, saying that I was disturbing their karma and why couldn't I just leave so that they could continue with their class.

Well, we were in a stand-off here as I wanted to do yoga, I was a paying customer, and my belief was that the yoga teacher could have made life easier for everyone all-round if she had just ignored me and continued with the class.

I expressed to the teacher and the centre employee (who was just a receptionist rather than a manager with no powers to do anything) my right to attend my class, and continued to lie on my mat with my eyes closed.

The employee tried to persuade the teacher to resume the class, but she said she didn't feel like it, and was not going to teach while I was there. I think that she was just getting very personal with me, which was uncalled-for. In the end, the employee suggested that she resume the class in another room. So she and the remaining attendees of the class (a number of them decided to leave during the altercation) were obliged to up sticks and go elsewhere, leaving me in the room to continue my meditation and Vinyasa Flow alone.

Now, that was a bit unfortunate. But I've got to say that for someone who you would expect to be laid back, this yoga teacher was very uptight and uncool. And in my opinion her behaviour had backfired because her class was disrupted, she ended up in an angry mood, having to move to another room, and she had lost half her class. Was it really worth it? I think not.

I ended up doing yoga in my own private room, and then went home after half an hour. It wasn't quite in the way that I had expected, but it was something I needed. Yes, I had been a bit of a rebel. I am not proud to say that, but I had to make a stand in the face of an instructor who was being unreasonable.

I probably won't go to one of her classes again, and she won't want me there either. But it's no loss. There are plenty of reasonable yoga instructors around. I guess on a Wednesday night I will just stick to doing Hot Yoga in Streatham - and that's no bad thing!

One day one photo - 25: Yoga, hot yoga, core stability

Hot yoga Class at Streatham Ice and Leisure Centre

As well as getting regular massages when I up my running miles, I have also been attending classes that help to prevent injury.

The main stay is yoga, which I do at my local sports centre at Crystal Palace. Sometimes I get to do pilates too. Slightly further away from where I live, at Streatham Ice and Sports Centre I attend Hot Yoga classes.

I would really recommend that too. I remember the first time I attended the Hot Yoga classes (aka Bikram Yoga) and did an hour of Vinyasa flow I really struggled to cycle the 5 miles to get back home. The exercises had really taken it out of me. Sure, it was pretty hot at the time and I had to drink a fair bit, and I struggled to hold one or two of the poses. But I didn't feel the tired that I would get after running. So I still found it surprising to realise that I had actually worked quite hard. Something about specifically working on those small group sets of mucles that you don't normally work on in everyday life, does give you fatigue in parts of your body you hadn't realised existed! But it can really make a difference to your all-round strength and core stability.

Talking of core, I have been doing those too. Again, mastering the Swiss Ball is quite an art. I always thought I had decent core stability from regularly doing plank exercises. But in fact this big ball can really sort you out!

I must say that through doing these classes - yoga, pilates, core stability - on a regular basis has kept my body in check, and I have definitely had fewer sports injuries this year than in previous years. Who knows, maybe it is an placebo effect, as many folks may want to say. But I feel good about doing these classes, so I will just carry on, until my theory proven wrong!