As with many things in life, "Some Like it Hot"-- and the hottest thing to arrive in the area is Rocky Point Hot Yoga.
The word yoga means “to join or yoke together.” It brings the body, mind, and spirit together into one experience. "Hot yoga" is simply the practice of performing one's yoga in a very warm room.
Dawn Stidd started practicing yoga at 18 but she became a serious yoga devotee when she left for college to attend the Boston Conservatory for Music. In Boston she studied yoga at Fitness Incentive.
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While aquiring a Kripala Yoga certification in Massachusetts, she learned that there had been a study with students and faculty at the conservatory that found that yoga helped musicians with performance anxiety.
"I was looking to open a yoga studio and I love the North Shore," Stidd, a South Shore girl, said. "I just drove around until I finally settled on Rocky Point. You have a great health food store, you have the Pine Barrens, people are always biking around. Not many places have such a tight community."
The studio is modern, understated and spacious. It is painted in warm tans and browns. You leave your shoes at the door an enter into a balmy calm.
The type of yoga being offered is a Vinyassa style done in a heated room. There are no regulations, no bright lights and it is not scripted.
"It is not just about fitness," she said. "We bring in the philosophy and ideals. It is also about stress release, relaxation and mental clarity. You can get deeper into the practice and de-tox in the heat."
Kelly Noeldechen is an instructor at Hot Yoga. She teaches a 75-minute class that incorporates a peaceful warrior sequence.
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"I love teaching here," she said. "The lighting, the music, the heat, everything is really beautiful. Yoga is also a spiritual meditation."
So far there has been a great response from the community.
"I find the classes here more meditative more spiritual," said Sari Goldhaber of Mount Sinai, who was just finishing up a class. "My practice has become deeper since I found Dawn's classes."
Rocky Point Hot Yoga offers a variety of classes, some hot, some not.
At 6:45 a.m. there is a silent, no direction class that is more of a meditative practice to start the day. This is followed by other classes throughout the day and into the evening.
Classes are designed to meet the different levels people are at.
"People can even feel a difference after one class," Stidd said.
