**What is Sumits Hot Yoga?**

When the temperature outside becomes frightful, some go-to cures include pumpkin spice lattes and camping out under your covers. But what about challenging your body and soul for 80 minutes in a room hotter than 100 degrees?

This is the premise of newly opened Sumits Yoga Columbia, a hot yoga studio nestled next to Buffalo Wild Wings on Nifong Boulevard. This type of yoga was founded by Sumit Banerjee, who studied under renowned yoga master Bikram, a fitness rockstar with a heavily regimented practice that lasted 90 minutes sans music.

Sumit broke off from the dogma and wanted to create an approachable and more welcoming version of the workout, so he founded a yoga style that was essentially made for everybody and every body, according to the Sumits Yoga website. He created a _vinyasa_, or flowing, atmosphere, encouraged teachers to be more free-spirited and added tunes to the class. The most characteristic feature of Sumits yoga is the heat, though.

“The first 3-5 classes, you’re just surviving,” says Sumits Yoga Columbia co-owner Brittany. “All you’re thinking is ‘why is it so hot in here?’ but then over time you start to realize all the emotional benefits.” 
 
Sumits Yoga Columbia is operated by Brittany and Allen, who asked not to be identified by their last name. The couple are both Mizzou graduates who moved back to CoMo four months ago.

Brittany started doing Sumits yoga when they lived in Springfield, Mo., and she says she enjoyed the shake up from standard gym trips and StairMaster climbs. 

“I felt like I was repairing my joints, like my knees, and working muscles I didn’t even know I had,” Brittany says. “We opened the studio up because a) I didn’t want to give up hot yoga here in Columbia, and b) it seemed like a great opportunity to introduce it to the town and give people the choice to gain these benefits too.”

She says the response from Columbia has been very positive.

“On the first full day we were opened, we kept the 5:30 a.m. time, and I was floored by the attendance,” she says, adding that students were buying packages and inviting friends and family. “There must’ve been 20 or more people that day.”

**The yoga test drive**

I practiced both Bikram and Sumits yoga styles back home in Chandler, Ariz. and thoroughly enjoyed both experiences. Pitted against each other, I love Sumits more because the music really amps you up for the four flow series, and the teacher walks through the aisles of yogis and genuinely cares about the students gaining all the benefits. 

The class is split into a slow, traditional warm-up. Then we did a standing series, followed by balances, quick ab exercises, then an upbeat 4 part flow series, and finally lower back exercises with cool down stretching. 

**Day 1:** I drank a ton of water beforehand, all day long. I was so excited to start. It’s been about four months since I last stepped in the 98-degree room, ready to bend and twist for 80 minutes. Since I’m from Arizona, I didn’t think the heat would be a concern for me – it sounded like a typical June day. I love a fitness challenge, but coming back was tough, especially to the heat.

All the sweat dripping is distracting (and slippery) as I was trying to hold a graceful bow pose. The women are fluent in Lululemon, so I learned to definitely _not_ sport cotton baggy tees in the future. The teacher took it slowly; assuming most of the class was made of beginners. I got stuck up in the front, but could thankfully feel the heavenly breezes as the instructor opened the door every once in a while. After my first class, I felt so accomplished, like a yogi superstar.

**Day 4:** After the classes, I’ve been super thirsty and shivery/congested later at night. I think I need to drink way more water. Class itself was great though, even though I ended up in the back corner, and I feared that I wouldn’t feel any of the whooshes from the door. I went to TigerX pump class earlier that day, so my _chaturangas_ — slo-mo pushups — were challenging.

My balancing was a little out of whack, but I really felt the stretching of my limbs. The warmth of class makes for a strenuous workout, but it felt like a nice change from the frigid November air. I’m loving the classes.

**Day 10:** The class felt so serene. I went to a Saturday morning class today, so I hadn’t drank a lot of water, which made me nervous coming in. I was pretty drenched by the end of the class, too, which I think had to do with how many students were squeezed into the room, but it wasn’t distracting.

I felt in the zone in the middle during the third flow, but I sort of lost it during downward dog position. However, the ending rest pose really calmed me and I felt like I was honestly doing a great service to not only my body, but my mind. It gives you a lot of clarity. I drank almost a gallon of water the rest of the day and my appetite was pretty suppressed, even hours later.

**Day 14:**  I’m really bummed the challenge is over, especially because I can really feel a change in my flexibility, and it feels so good to reach my toes. I now know some great moves in my back pocket for when I need a good stretch — maybe I’ll try them out in the Rec Grotto’s sauna.

It feels like such an accomplishment, and I feel stronger, especially in my upper body — all those flows really add up! The heat really worked me hard and loosened my muscles, especially during these months where four layers of sweaters doesn’t seem like overdoing it.

I learned through this two-week challenge (which you can do yourself with the new student price of $20) that the Sumits practice is so much more than a run in, run out workout sesh. It forces you to put away your phone, pause on the retweeting and status updates, and give yourself the gift of patience and a cleansing — 80 minutes of “me” time.

The great thing about Sumits is that the routine stays the same, so your body is the only factor that changes. There’s no need to be intimidated by surprises. I learned that the more classes I attended, the more I could focus solely on my body and not on the instructor or anyone else around me. And now, any time the cold stops me from feeling my ears or toes, or if I want to be enlightened, Sumits Yoga Columbia will definitely be my quick fix.