Welcomed by a sign on the glass door that reads, “enter with an open heart: leave shoes, cellphone and ego behind,” I made my way through Breathe Hot Studio in the middle of November as Esthela Valdez, founder and instructor, waited for the other instructors and changed from her daily job outfit into her yoga one.
Submerged in the delicate smell of incense that is distinctive of the studio, Esthela, already wearing a white T-shirt with the name of the studio and black leggings, and I sat at the back of the place on top of wooden benches as she told me how her yoga journey began.
“All my life I’ve been active, but I’m new to yoga,” she said. “I’ve been practicing yoga for the last seven years. The moment I started, I totally fell in love with the practice and couldn’t stop immersing myself more and more.
“I would definitely want to share that everybody needs to try yoga. Most of the time we get students thinking yoga is resting on a mat, or taking a nap, but it is not. There’s a lot of different types of yoga. We have super strong classes. I’ve had very active students telling me this is the most demanding exercise that they’ve practiced.”
A few months ago, before the pandemic, Esthela and I met for the first time to work on another yoga story for the local newspaper. I, too, was one of those people who believed yoga was resting on a mat and kind of dealing with your own thoughts.
I was very, very wrong.
While the studio does offer relaxing classes, such as meditation, restorative yoga and gentle yoga — starting to practice with power and soul yoga was probably the best decision I’ve made in a while. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I dropped more than 30 pounds since I became a student at the studio.
With my yoga mat, a towel on top and a bottle of water, I’d sit inside the room four times a week as it reached 98 degrees and notice myself change, not only on the outside but on the inside too.
“We are extremely grateful because we strongly believe we are changing lives, not only because of the physical aspect, more importantly on the spiritual aspect,” she said. “‘Yoga is the journey of the self, trough the self to the self,’ as Baghavad Gita said. It starts on the outside, but leads you to a deeper knowledge of yourself.’”
Esthela said yoga attracted a lot of students to her studio.
“The practice of yoga in Brownsville simply exploded,” she said. “We started about six years ago, and we were probably three or four students. Then, in six months we multiplied, and by the second year we probably were 30 to 40 active practitioners at the studio. Four years later, before the pandemic, we had all full classes, between 40 to 50 students per class. The community grew exponentially.”
Esthela teaches regularly at the studio, and she describes her classes as a blend of rocket yoga, which she said is a strong, traditional practice. She also works with soul yoga, which is a moving meditation and a practice that works all the layers of your body — physical, emotional and energetic.
The beauty of Breathe Hot Studio is not only that you see every type of body shape gain confidence as they work their way on their mat, but also that every instructor gives the student a unique experience practicing yoga. No class is ever the same.
“To do yoga you need one thing, a body, that’s it,” said Sheralee Six, an instructor who has been practicing yoga for three years. “With so many different things, we think that we have to look a certain way or be a certain way or be a certain size, but yoga is for everybody. And if you can breathe, you can do yoga. Whether you come to it for the physical or the spiritual or the mental, at some point it’s all going to come together and might potentially be about all three.”
Sheralee said that she encourages people to make an attempt at all types of yoga.
“Whatever the reason, to even think about trying it, I would give every style of yoga a try,” she said. “I would give every teacher a try because you might truly connect to something.”
Sheralee said yoga helps those who practice it discover something about themselves.
“I think I came into yoga thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going transform into this mindful being,’ and in fact, it was really more about discovering everything is already there within you,” she said. “As a teacher, what I really strive is to try to allow the students to see they have this inner beauty and this capability and this wisdom already there; this light that’s already there and we all have. I think that life can change for everybody.”
Sheralee has always been an active runner and an athlete, but she said yoga gives her the opportunity of finding strength in stillness and power in softness. She teaches power, soul and ‘flow and meditate’ — a slow paced vinyasa flow followed by a guided meditation.
“Although, yes we are doing things, it’s so much more about being and really settling in and allowing these moments of stillness to really bring more light into your life and a much deeper acceptance of myself,” she said.
When it comes to more relaxing classes, Fabiola Rodriguez teaches beginners.
She said yoga has changed her life and has been practicing yoga for six years. Now that she teaches, she helps students with alignment and sometimes pushes them with abdominal workouts and challenging poses — when they’re up for the challenge.
“Yoga has changed my life because like my husband says, ‘I love when you go to yoga because you come home in a super good mood,’” she said while laughing. “It makes me happier. I’m at peace. It’s an hour for myself with no work, no phone and no kids.
“I always say don’t go only to one class; you need to take three to four classes because every class is different, that’s another thing. You work the physical aspect; you work the emotional aspect, everything. You tone your body, and at the same time you have peace of mind.”
