I’ve been doing hot yoga for ages—pretty much daily (honest) for 15 years straight—and my devotion (read: addiction) to my practice has not allowed for much wiggle room when it comes to trying new forms of exercise.
So, when my beloved home studio, Yoga 360 in Langley and Surrey, added new PyroPilates classes to the mix last month, effectively bumping my tried-and-true yoga sessions off the schedule at times, I decided to give them a try. Let’s just say I’ve found a new addiction. Combining mat Pilates with high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and yoga—not to mention, disco lights, upbeat music and encouraged, giggle-inducing interaction between teacher/students—it’s an intense-yet-exhilarating workout that gets your heart pumping, your muscles firing and your limbs stretching all in one. The idea, says super studio owner Candice Lim Hing, is to "elevate your heart rate so that your body can continue to burn calories even 24 hours after class." Oh, and it’s performed in a heated room with 30 to 40 per cent humidity, meaning the "hot" part of my usual yoga practice is preserved.
I tried it (that’s me in the photo above, on the right, along with Candice (left) and Yoga 360 instructor extraordinaire and my PyroPilates partner in crime Esther Oh doing Buddha Squats—trust me, eight 20-second reps of these (or Mountain Climbers, or Lobras) in class brings on the best burn), I’m loving it, and so will you. —Noa Nichol
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