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Asbury Park Press

Really turn up the heat for a great yoga experience


Yoga is very hot.  The ancient Hindu tradition, embraced for its ability to achieve a balance between mind and body, has been gaining ever-growing numbers in the United States in recent years.

Now along comes ho yoga, delivered in 90-minute sessions in heated classrooms with the goal of warming muscles and enhancing even the grandest yoga experience.

The results are glowing.  Just look at Ann Yocum, owner of Colts Neck Hot Yoga, she’s a vibrant example of the merits of hot yoga.

A lifelong, professional dancer, the former Radio City Music Hall Rockette suffered a hip injury in 1995.  Four years later, at the age of 41, she received a hip replacement.

“I never imagined I could get back all of my strength and flexibility,” says Yocum, who faithfully followed a physical-therapy regimen.  A year later, she took a hot yoga class and instantly was hooked.

“I was sold on it,” she says, recalling gratefully how hot yoga proved to be “a great workout for me… the best I could do.”

With the heat warming the muscles, hot yoga is safe, she notes.

“It reshaped my whole body,” says Yocum, who took hot yoga classes for two years before becoming an instructor.  Three years later, she bought the studio where she now offers a full schedule of classes.

“People knew me because I was a teacher at the school under the previous owners,” says Yocum, who boasts that since she took over Jan. 1, 2005, more than 400 new students have enrolled.

Having celebrated her first anniversary as owner of Colts Neck Hot Yoga, Yocum looks forward to a new year of helping others achieve all the benefits that hot yoga has to offer.

Designed to offer physical, mental and spiritual gains, the sessions are conducted in a heated room to allow muscles to warm, thus preventing injury and allowing for a deeper release in the body.  Sweating also helps flush toxins from the body.

Yocum, who performed all over the world during her professional dancing days, shares her personal story with her students.  

“A lot of clients haven’t exercised in a while, and they tell me that they’re out of shape and aren’t flexible,” says Yocum.  “They’re looking for something that will reshape their body without suffering an injury.  Yoga gives back to you, it’s not like going to the gym.”

Soon, they’re echoing Yocum with their own praise of what hot yoga has brought to their lives.

“Some people feel such a difference,” says Yocum, recalling a 47-year old man who’d never taken a yoga class before coming to Colts Neck Hot Yoga.  “He told me he’d never felt so good, so totally relaxed,” she continues.  “He signed up for 25 classes.”

Hot yoga is a good workout for you inner and outer being, Yocum proclaims.  “It gives you energy,” she says.  “It detoxes the body and mind; it’s a matter of being in the moment, being with yourself.”

Yocum, who teaches the majority of classes at Colts Neck Hot Yoga, has three teachers on staff to help with the always-growing enrollments.

For further information, visit the Web site: www.coltsneckhotyoga.com, which lists the classes and the prices for packages.  Offerings include children’s yoga, pre-natal yoga, ballet and Vinyasa.

“The great thing about hot yoga is that it is for anyone and everyone from any walk of life, no matter what shape they’re in,” says Yocum.

Colts Neck Hot Yoga is located at 24 Route 34 south, Orchards Plaza.  Call (732) 866-9999.

Living in Colts Neck

Originating over 5,000 years ago in India, yoga has proved to be one of the most spiritual exercises, rooted in psycho-physical discipline. The basics associated with yoga focus on working the inside of your body outwards, ultimately healing the inner self as well as the physical self.  According to owner and instructor of Colts Neck Yoga and former Radio City Rockette, Ann Yocum, the benefits of yoga enhance the mind, body, and spirit, garnering a down-to-earth comfort with one's self both internally and externally.

       In place since 2000, Colts Neck Yoga respects the exercises and philosophical foundation and instructs a variety of people with understanding, ease, and dedication.  Ann described Colts Neck Yoga:  " We have clientele and highly trained instructors that come from all types of backgrounds, which helps to make the practice have a very welcoming appeal. At other places you can do your yoga and pick up and leave when you're done, but here we have created a very social atmosphere that has built long-standing friendships and, overall, a happy environment."  She continued, "The best thing about Colts neck Yoga is that you not only heal yourself but you are constantly learning something new everyday...no two classes are alike."  Colts Neck Yoga is open 7 days a week, offering such classes as Hot Yoga, Ballet-Workout, Children's Yoga, Vinyasa, and Prenatal Yoga. - By Kriston Weston