Sinead shares her thoughts on hot yoga and keeping it clean
We’ve probably all heard about this, in gyms, yoga studios, hot yoga studios etc, there is a high risk of spreading germs and illnesses, IF the studio doesn’t take action to keep hazards like this at bay. You can do a Google search and easily find lots of doomsday posts about the risks! I was reading up on this today and it struck me that these writers have definitely had some bad experiences where they’ve been.
Then I remembered all the places I’ve been to practice Yoga. Far and wide across the city, the country and the globe. And sometimes I had some serious doubts about using one of their mats, or even using their loos! To me, it’s a big deal how clean a place is. If it’s not clean, I’m not comfortable and I can’t relax. Plus, so many poses require our hands to touch our feet, our hands to touch our face, our face to practically touch the floor. Doesn’t it just make sense that if a place and a person isn’t clean, that’s all really gross stuff engage in?
At Yogafurie we’re not only clean freaks, but we have a genuine deep rooted passion for the health and well-being of our students. And we understand that often starts with hygiene standards. We’ve had yoga training in lots of different places, and have a strong opinion on how clean we want our studio. If you come quite regularly, you might notice it’s almost like Ed and I practically live here! So if it’s our second home, it’s going to be a clean one! Below I have outlined for you the measures we take to make sure the studio is as clean and enjoyable for you as it is for us:
Shoes off at the door
I read in this article that “.. studies show that 13 percent of shoes carry E. coli bacteria after 3 months of wear, while 90 percent carry faeces”. So if you’ve had us insist on shoes staying at the door, hopefully this gives you some context as to why.
Also, if we are to lie on our mats and roll around, we wouldn’t want to be looking at big chunks of mud and stones on the floor. I’ve had experiences of this at some gyms, where all other classes are practiced with trainers on. And then when it comes to the chillout yoga classes, we have to go barefoot and roll around in all the stuff that has been brought in off the streets.
Maintenance of mat and prop cleanliness – We stick to our system!
Following each class, we ask our students to give the mats and props a good spray down with Ecover anti-bacterial solution. Then when the mats are put away, they are hung up on rails, which helps them to air out and dry off to stop the breeding of germs in any leftover sweat.
That’s not all. All of our mats are washed regularly on a rotational basis with bio washing solution to help kill off any extra strong germs that could still be clinging on to life. On top of this routine, every teacher for Yogafurie keeps an eye out for anything looking a bit worn or manky and immediately takes that away for cleaning.
