“I Jumped into a Frozen River Every Morning — Here’s What It Did to Me”

SEE HOW TO COLD PLUNGE WITH PURPOSE →

This month, we gathered practices that embody the HHY RVA spirit. A few gems to bookmark:

Training for life, not just for teaching.

At Hot House Yoga RVA, our yoga school is designed for wholeness; to deepen your understanding of movement, breath, philosophy, and yourself. Whether you dream of teaching one day or simply want to feel more grounded, strong, and connected in your own practice, our programs are built to support the whole human.

Because yoga school isn’t just about learning to guide others. It’s about learning to guide yourself.

The first time I stepped into that river, every nerve in my body screamed. It was the middle of winter, the pandemic had stolen so much from all of us, and I was searching for something … anything … that would make me feel alive again. Two minutes in ice-cold water gave me exactly that. When I climbed out, something had shifted. I wasn’t just awake; I was electric. More alive than I’d felt in months. Better than coffee. Better than almost anything. The inflammation that had been nagging at my knees? Quieter. My mind? Crystal clear. And somewhere in that cold, I found a feeling I can only describe as freedom.

So I made it a ritual. Run a mile and a half to the river. Jump in. Run a mile and a half home. By the time I walked through my door, I was buzzing… body warm, spirit lit up, ready for anything. I’ve been doing it ever since.

Here’s the truth though, it’s still scary every single time. If I think about it too long, it might not happen. That moment of hesitation is real, and I don’t think it ever fully goes away. But that’s exactly why community matters. With friends beside you, breathwork to ground you, and people cheering you on, you find the courage to lean into something scary and do it anyway.

And the reward? Always worth it. Every single time. The smiles. The aliveness. That quiet pride of doing something that frightened you — and coming out the other side warm, laughing, and more yourself than you were five minutes ago.

The Science: What you feel isn’t just in your head.

Cold water immersion triggers a powerful cascade of responses in the body:

Over time, the practice builds something called hormetic stress…small, chosen doses of discomfort that make your mind and body stronger, calmer, and more adaptable. Sound familiar? It’s not so different from what we do on the yoga mat.

Every two weeks, after our Power Flow Yoga Burrito Kitchari Music Yard class, we gather for a community cold plunge and it is the best way to start a Friday evening. There’s breathwork to prepare you, music to carry you through, and friends cheering you on every step of the way. Afterward, we eat, drink, and commune together… warm, glowing, and fully alive.

You don’t have to find a frozen river. You don’t have to be fearless. Just show up. We’ll do the rest.

We’re at the midpoint of summer, and the astrology this month is giving bright, bold, take-up-space energy.

We’re also moving through Mercury retrograde in Cancer, so yes, the universe has entered its “circle back” era. From June 29 through July 23, this retrograde brings slower, more reflective energy. It’s a great time to review emotional bonds, revisit the past, and revise the plans that need a little more heart. Not everything needs to be forced into motion right now.

With all this watery Cancer energy in the air, let yourself feel. Think back to last summer. What has changed? What have you outgrown? What part of you has softened, strengthened, or finally come home?

One of the best ways to work with this energy is Yin. Yin teaches us how to find our edge without forcing it. To stay, soften, listen, and let the body do what the mind usually tries to micromanage. Come take a few classes. Your nervous system will send a thank you note.

And after class, grab your journal. Let the retrograde do what it does best. Bring the old thoughts, feelings, and storylines to the surface so you can sort through them with a little more compassion and a lot less chaos.

And then, just like fireworks on the Fourth of July, we get a Mars Uranus opposition. Mars brings action, heat, motivation, and a little spice. Uranus is the rule breaker, the disruptor, the planet that loves a plot twist. Early in the month, this energy could bring a sudden breakthrough or unexpected shift. Retrogrades can feel like a sudden summer storm, windy and a little wild, but they often leave the air clearer, the sky brighter, and everything just a little easier to see.

We close the month with a Full Moon in Aquarius on July 29. Emotions may feel big, intuition may be loud, and something could be revealed. Pay attention to what you feel, especially around community, belonging, and the future you’re quietly building.

Best of all, the Sun connects with Jupiter on this day, bringing a wave of expansive, feel good, possibility energy.

So make a wish, Wayfinder. Then keep walking toward it.

A piña colada inspired electrolyte mocktail

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Recipe:

Your post-class ritual just got an upgrade 🥥✨

Yoga + Ayurveda for hot yoga humans

Yoga and Ayurveda are two branches of the same great tree of Vedic wisdom. Yoga gives us the practices that help steady the mind, open the body, and return us to awareness. Ayurveda gives us the daily rhythms, food wisdom, and lifestyle tools that help us live in better relationship with our bodies, the seasons, and the world around us.

Together, they remind us that the body is not separate from the mind, the mind is not separate from digestion, and our practice is not separate from the season we are living in.

And in summer? We are living in Pitta season.

Pitta is the Ayurvedic energy of fire and water. It governs heat, metabolism, digestion, transformation, focus, ambition, and intensity. When Pitta is balanced, we feel clear, motivated, radiant, and purposeful. When Pitta gets too high, especially in the heat, we may feel irritated, overheated, inflamed, impatient, perfectionistic, or just plain crispy around the edges.

Sound familiar?

Welcome to summer. Welcome to hot yoga. Welcome to the sacred art of not melting.

Hot yoga can be deeply healing, strengthening, and clarifying. The heat helps the body soften, sweat, detoxify, and focus. It can create a powerful sense of presence because, let’s be honest, it is hard to mentally wander too far when your mat feels like a tiny tropical island.

But during Pitta season, we have to practice with a little more wisdom.

Ayurveda teaches that like increases like and opposites create balance. So when the outer season is hot, humid, bright, and intense, and then we add a heated room, strong movement, and sweaty effort, we are adding fire to fire.

That does not mean hot yoga is “bad” in summer. It simply means we need to shift the way we relate to the practice.

Summer is not the season to punish yourself into transformation. It is the season to practice with intelligence, softness, hydration, and inner listening.

The question becomes:

In asana, Pitta can show up as drive. The desire to go deeper, push harder, hold longer, sweat more, nail the pose, win the imaginary yoga Olympics happening entirely inside your own head.

We love the fire. Fire gives us discipline. Fire gives us courage. Fire gets us to the mat when the couch is whispering sweet nothings.

But the medicine for Pitta is not more intensity. The medicine is cooling awareness.

During Pitta season, your asana practice benefits from:

Slower transitions
Move with breath instead of urgency. Let your practice feel more like a river than a race. Mix up your the styles you practice. Have you tried our SLOW Flow?

Moon energy postures
Forward folds, gentle twists, supported hip openers, side body stretches, and longer exhales help cool the nervous system. YIN practice

Less gripping
Soften the jaw. Unclench the belly. Relax the eyes. Pitta often hides in the places we are trying to control.

More rest before you need it
Child’s pose is not a defeat. It is a strategy. A very wise, very sweaty strategy.

Cooling breath awareness
In a hot room, keep it simple: breathe steadily, avoid forcing, and honor signs of overheating.

The hot room gives us direct feedback. It shows us how we respond under pressure.

This is where Yoga and Ayurveda meet beautifully.

The goal is not to avoid heat. Heat transforms. It metabolizes. It wakes us up. But too much heat can burn through our energy, patience, digestion, and joy.

In summer, the practice is not about extinguishing the fire. It is about tending it.

A well-tended fire gives warmth, light, and clarity.
An untended fire burns the whole village down.

We prefer warmth and clarity. The village has been through enough.

According to Ayurveda, food is not just calories or macros. Every food carries qualities. It has a taste, known as rasa, an energetic temperature, known as virya, and a post-digestive effect, known as vipaka. Some foods also have a special effect called prabhava, meaning they may influence the body in a unique way that is not fully explained by taste or energy alone.

This matters because food changes how we feel.

Some foods heat us up. Some foods cool us down. Some foods ground us. Some foods dry us out. Some foods make us feel sharp, steady, heavy, light, calm, fiery, or foggy.

During Pitta season, especially if you are practicing hot yoga, cooling foods can help balance the heat from the inside out.

Pitta is generally soothed by foods that are:

In Ayurveda, food combining matters because digestion matters. The goal is not to make eating stressful or overly rule-based. The goal is to support digestion so your body can receive the nourishment without working overtime.

Here are some simple, cooling combinations that are generally easy to digest and summer-friendly.

Oatmeal with dates, coconut, and cardamom
Warm but not fiery. This is a nice option if your digestion prefers cooked food in the morning.

Coconut chia pudding with berries
Cooling and hydrating. Best if your digestion handles chia well.

Avocado toast with cucumber and fresh herbs
Simple, satisfying, and cooling. Add cilantro or mint for extra summer support.

Basmati rice with mung dal and cilantro
A classic Ayurvedic-style meal that is simple, grounding, and easy to digest.

Rice bowl with steamed greens, coconut, and mung beans
Cooling, nourishing, and not too heavy before or after practice.

Cucumber, avocado, and fresh herb salad with a simple grain
Great for hot days when appetite is lighter but you still need nourishment.

Kitchari with cooling herbs
Use mung dal, basmati rice, fennel, coriander, cumin, and cilantro. Keep it gentle, not spicy.

Zucchini, rice, and coconut soup
Soft, hydrating, and easy to digest.

Sweet potato with greens and tahini
Grounding without being too heating. Go easy on garlic and chili in summer.

Melon on its own
Ayurveda usually recommends eating melon alone because it digests quickly and may not combine well with heavier foods.

Fresh berries
Light, cooling, and summer-friendly.

Coconut water
Hydrating and naturally cooling, especially after sweating.

You do not need to banish anything from your life. Ayurveda is not here to make you afraid of salsa. But if you are feeling overheated, irritable, inflamed, or depleted after hot practice, it may help to reduce:

Again, this is not about perfection. It is about noticing.

Traditionally, Yoga and Ayurveda both point us toward deeper relationship with life. Not just how to stretch better. Not just how to eat “clean.” But how to listen.

The heart is considered a center of intelligence, not just emotion. It is where awareness softens into wisdom. It is where we learn the difference between discipline and aggression, between transformation and burnout, between inner fire and inner war.

Pitta season asks us to stay close to that intelligence.

In the hot room, summer becomes more than a season. It becomes a mirror.

Can we stay cool inside the fire?

That is the practice.

Until next time,

Hot Yoga. Cool Humans