Rather Be Sweating

Welcome back to part 2 of this 2-part special on the Rather Be Sweating Podcast. This week, we're flipping the script and I'm the one being interviewed! Let's backtrack: last week on Episode 11, we heard from Danny, one of our most frequent practitioners at Hometown Sweat. He shared some incredible insight on expectations, preconceived notions, community, and habits, and the importance of prioritizing yourself especially when life gets busy and stressful. When I asked Danny if he’d be willing to sit down with my for the interview, he graciously agreed and then proposed an additional idea for a follow-up podcast episode: That we could reverse roles and let HIM interview ME! I’ll be honest, at first I wasn’t so sure, but when he explained that the questions he wanted to ask would provide insight and help to anyone in their yoga practice, I had to say yes. I hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode on the Rather Be Sweating Podcast, I interview Danny, one of our members at Hometown Sweat. Danny began practicing Original Hot Yoga before the pandemic, and then took about an 18 month break from any yoga beginning in March of 2020. Since returning to the hot room at the end of 2021, Danny has dramatically improved so many aspects of his life including his daily habits, his running form, and how he takes care of himself overall. Not to mention, he even added an additional form of sweating to his weekly routine after months of being super hesitant to trying something new. Bee sure to subscribe to the podcast, because we'll be coming at you next week with Part 2 of this two part special where we flip the script and Danny interviews me! Enjoy the episode :)

In this episode, I interview one of Hometown Sweat's most consistent, hard-working, and committed students, Glenda. And it’s no coincidence that I’m releasing this episode right before Mothers Day, because Glenda is a fierce Boss Mom herself and she brings the compassion and patience that motherhood has taught her straight into the heart of her intense career. And what Glenda really taps into in our conversation is that trying to achieve a perfect balance maybe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be … because it doesn’t really exist. This conversation with Glenda was liberating and inspiring all at once. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Just over a week ago, we returned home from Casa Om in Puerto Morelos, Mexico where I spent a week leading my first ever yoga retreat. The experience was so special and so incredibly soulful, and I wanted to publish a podcast episode about the yoga retreat to pull the curtain back for anyone who might be interested in attending the next one. But when I started interviewing Amy, one of our members who attended the retreat, it became clear that simply showing up at Hometown Sweat right here at home helped set the foundation for us to be able to have such a powerful week abroad. This episode is about more than what we did during our week in Mexico. You'll hear how someone can find the missing link to make her life more fulfilling, more joyful, and more complete. And you'll realize that you can do the same. If you're interested in finding out early information on our next retreat (yes, I have the dates booked for 2023 already!) be sure to get on the list here. Since space is so limited, we want to make sure we're promoting the retreat to exactly who has an interest.

In this episode, I'm interviewing my husband! That's right, Ben agreed to let me ask him all of the questions about how he got into yoga, why he got into yoga, and how it's helped him as a former college athlete who's still got a competitive edge. Spoiler alert: he didn't always totally love it. So if you've got someone in your life who you're desperately trying to convince to try yoga, this is the perfect episode to tune into. Enjoy the episode!

In this episode, I'm diving into the details of one of Hometown Sweat's most popular classes: Inferno Hot Pilates. We'll cover what makes this class unique, who can practice this class, my own personal experience taking IHP for the first time, and the business decisions that went into incorporating this modality of sweating and fitness at my studio. Enjoy the episode!

When it comes to trying hot yoga for the first time, it's really common to be nervous and even hesitant. Lots of times people want to take a class, but a few hurdles stand in their way. And I get it. I was wicked intimidated before taking my first class. I totally understand that trying something new, especially something physically challenging in a group setting can be downright scary. Which is exactly why I want to talk today about some tips that will help you get over the mental hurdle and take your first hot yoga class. And if you’ve done hot yoga before but have been sidelined for sometime, this episode is perfect for you as well.

Being the owner of a small business - a brick and mortar yoga studio - during the Covid-19 Pandemic was one of the most challenging things I have ever experienced. And even though 2020 and 2021 held a lot of stress and uncertainly, the pandemic also brought to light some incredible lessons. Lessons in business, lessons in yoga, lessons that I want to remember. And I figure that they're worth sharing here. While creating this episode, Ukraine was invaded. And all of a sudden, my small business Covid challenges seemed pretty darn small. Pretty non-existent actually. So I had an idea: For I’ll be matching the first 50 $5 donations to Sunflower of Peace, a Boston-based non-profit providing medical and humanitarian aid that will be used by the paramedics and doctors in the areas that are affected by the violence in Ukraine. What that means is if you’re one of the first 50 people to donate $5, send me a screenshot of your receipt, and I’ll match it. My email address is maria@hometownsweat.com. Not only that, but I’ll also donate $1 for the first hundred downloads of this podcast episode. That means if you’re right down the street or across the ocean, you can pretty easily make a small difference simply by simply downloading the episode. So what do you need to do? Share this episode. Grab the link and text it to your friends. And if you have 5 bucks to spare, donate it, email me a picture of the receipt, and I’ll match it. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Original Hot Yoga and Bikram Yoga are synonymous in describing the powerful, challenging, therapeutic hot yoga class. And up until 2019, I referred to the practice as "Bikram Yoga." However, I had been realizing for years that in order for my business to truly represent the compassion, empathy, kindness, and trust that I wanted to see in the world, I needed to change the name. This might not seem like a big deal. And in all honestly, once I made the decision I was able to move on quickly and confidently. But I did have a lot of angst leading up to it, as well as anxiety about how my community would react. In this episode, I reference the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast about Bikram Yoga. You can listen here. A word of warning: subjects of sexual harassment and assault are discussed in 30 for 30 show. As someone who practices, teaches, and recommends this yoga series, I wanted to be transparent about the decisions I've made regarding the name. I hope you enjoy the episode.

It sucks to not like what you see when you look in the mirror. To measure who you are as an individual based on a physical appearance staring back at you. To feel like if you could only shrink this or add that or change over there then you would be happy. But I’ve gotta tell you, in my experience, self-acceptance and self-love doesn’t come when you change what you see, it comes from changing who's looking. In this episode, I'm sharing my own story about overcoming negative body image and using the practice of Original Hot Yoga (a.k.a. "Bikram Yoga") to help me get there.

In this episode, I'm giving a 5,000 foot overview of Original Hot Yoga. This style of yoga, also known as Bikram Yoga, Hot 90, or 26 & 2, is in incredibly healing and therapeutic yoga modality. It's also wicked intense, from the 90-minute duration of the class to the hot and humid conditions. This podcast explains the WHY behind the heat, the specific series of poses, and how anyone (really, anyone!) can do this yoga and massively improve their life.

In the first episode of the Rather Be Sweating Podcast, Maria talks to fellow yoga mama Allysa about her experience practicing hot yoga, becoming trained as a yoga teacher, and ultimately finding her sobriety in the darkest days of the Covid-19 pandemic.