yoga - Lexagator Loves

I’m not a yogi and the practice of yoga has never ever been my thing. Flexibility has never been easy for me and I have never touched my toes (without bending my knees) but I know yoga is good for me so I have always tried to find a studio class that gets me and I feel like Ritual Hot Yoga does that.

The studio is located in the Soma district and spitting distance from the 101 freeway. I was immediately greeted and signed in using a touchscreen and then given a quick tour. Ritual has everything you need to clean up after class with showers, towels, and supplies to dry your hair. The studio also supplies you with a yoga mat, fancy yoga towel, clips to secure your mat, and a yoga block. I loved that there was bottled water and tea as well.

The class is centered around moving and breathing to the beat which makes it a very quick flow of yoga poses in a heated candlelit room. I found my first class to be liberating because I didn’t have a enough time to be frustrated by any of the poses because you have to move to the next one.

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The instructor opened the class with the mantra for the week which was Santosha, which means contentment and satisfaction. She eloquently described how we are conditioned to always look to want more in life. Rarely do we take a moment to be grateful and content with where we are now. How can we appreciate our future accomplishments if we can not be grateful today?

Santosha challenges us to find peace in the moment—to accept and appreciate what is, no matter what that looks like. It’s about looking to yourself for a sense of fulfillment and trusting that you have everything you need. During the class it struck me how often I think if I had x (money, status, whatever) I’d be happier. If we choose to live our life like this we are going to be consistently looking for more when we need to look to ourselves for everything we need.

During the class the instructor leads you through poses in time with music from popular music like Rihanna and Tinashe. She walks around to give hands on guidance and there are two more helpers that do the same thing. At first I was alarmed when someone helped me into a pose but after a few times I found it comforting and helpful. I also found myself out of breath and completely covered in sweat. At the end of class during Shavasana the assistants lay a cool eucalyptus scented towel on your forehead and come around to do mini massages. If this is not the ultimate perk of a yoga studio I don’t know what is. I ended my practice with some complementary yogi tea before departing back into the real world.

All The Deets

Website: Ritual Hot Yoga

Address: 586 6th St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Price: $30 drop-in

Amenities: showers, towels, yoga mat, clips, yoga blocks, and more!

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Movin’ To The Beat At Ritual SF

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