photo credit: Kara Block Creative

This is my YogaStory: Why I am in love with this hot yoga and why I practice yoga daily.

how I fell in love with hot yoga

I have been practicing yoga pretty much daily for 7 years now. Even the days when I used to work in an office in Mexico. Of course, my daily practice has had little ups and downs when holiday season came or when I knew my body needed rest. But since the day I found my yoga practice, it has been a dedicated one. I have always made space for to fit it in my agenda. If it is on the grounds that this restorative practice makes me healthier, why would I procrastinate?

my yoga and me

My relationship with yoga has been like one with a good friend, a good buddy who always makes the best of me shine, who always helps me to see all that positive stuff I have, and one who has always been there for me no matter what. So I need to also make space for this friend to be always with me.

My yoga practice gives me this balance I always needed. When I feel down it is there to cheer me up; when I am all hormonal, it is there to offer me stillness and discipline; when I am moving all day long, my savasana is my angel.

learning through yoga

Yoga has taught me that I will never stop learning. Once I think I have mastered one of my postures, yoga shows me I still have much to learn. There is always a new correction to make my posture better in some way. With that knowledge, yoga pushes my ego aside and makes me feel happy to KNOW that the more I learn the further from perfection I am. My practice has taught me to give all when I want something, to work for it and not to give up. I have learned that everything I feel passionate about, it is worth it to give it my all.

Yoga has also taught me a lot about myself. How do I behave when I’m struggling with a posture? Can I cultivate patience and enjoy the journey instead of looking for what is coming next?

How do I behave when I’m successful? Can I stay humble, honest, and hard working? Not making a good asana isn’t failure, instead it is moving forward, step by step, with patience. The practice on my mat teaches me how to live and react in my life. My practice is about embracing myself the way I am day by day, without ego and without attachment, it is the place where I hug myself and feel happy in my own skin.

why I practice daily

I have consciously decided to make this yoga part of my life forever, and forever sounds like a lot, but when you find a friend who is there for you day in and day out, a friend who makes the best of you shine and makes you a better person; then you found someone you should stick with until the end.

Ana Lopez

After dedicating her full attention to hot yoga for two years in Madrid, Ana fell in love with hot yoga and its benefits. She got certified with Evolation Yoga in 2014 and now she is teaching yoga in Helsinki, Finland. Ana owns a hot yoga studio there as she has discovered that Finns can really benefit from yoga with the hard climatic changes that surrounds them. She truly believes in healing the human body with the energy of asanas and correct stimulation.