My First Experience at Sunstone Yoga

Sunstone Yoga is a local chain of yoga studios in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, with an additional studio in Austin. All of Sunstone's classes are hot yoga, which means that the room is heated to a certain temperature and set to a higher humidity. Performing yoga poses in a heated room loosens the muscles to allow for deeper stretching, and the additional sweat is said to be detoxifying. I had done hot yoga before, but never at a Sunstone studio.

Classes Offered

After viewing Sunstone's website, I decided to start with their Intro series, which consists of two 90-minute classes. These classes are designed to introduce you to how the studio is run, demonstrate poses, and help you acclimate to the hot room.

After taking the Intro series, I moved on to some of their other classes. Each class is named after an element -- there is Fire, Water, Earth, Wood, and Metal. The Fire classes are the core of the studio, and the other classes compliment it in some way. Each class type comes in 30, 60, or 90 minute versions, and each class has its own set of poses.

What to Expect

Upon arrival, I was greeted by the instructor of the Intro class. She made sure I was all registered and set up, showed me how to work the lockers and where the locker room was, and told me what to do once I was inside the classroom. Any time I have gone to Sunstone since, the instructor or another employee has greeted me by name and made sure any questions I had were answered.

The instructor arrives in the classroom about three minutes after the official start of class. The class begins and ends with breathing exercises. Most of the time, the instructor will verbally guide everyone through the class, occasionally demonstrating or correcting different poses. After class, you can also ask the instructor any questions you may have.

If it is your first time doing hot yoga, the most important thing to remember is just to stay in the room the entire length of the class. Acclimating to the temperature is your first priority. Drinking lots of water can help you acclimate because sweating more will cool you down. Take a break if you ever feel light headed, overheated, or weak.