Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.12.2015, Qupperneq 40

REBECCA CONWAY
TONY PROWER
8
Learn Icelandic
at Mímir
Autumn Term
Spring Term
Summer Term
Level 1–5
www.mimir.is - Tel: 580 1800
Höfðabakki 9 Entrance to
Mímir-símenntun
Höfðabakki 9, 110 Reykjavík
Bus line no. 6 from city centre and
bus line no. 12 from Breiðholt
Öldugata 23, 101 Reykjavík
Vesturlandsvegur
EAST
CITY
CITY
CENTRE
Quality - Experience - Dedication
Chr i s tmas menu
Sta r te r s
Thin sliced smoked lamb (carpaccio style)
with green beans.
Mustard & Brennivín herring with rye bread.
Smoked salmon on a blini with chives & sour cream.
Main cou r s e
Oven baked leg of lamb & slow cooked roast beef
with a powerful red wine sauce, sugar glazed
potatoes & fried vegetables.
Desse r t
Homemade apple pie & vanilla ice cream.
Price: 6.850 kr.
R E S T A U R A N T & B A R
Tasty food, fine wines and fancy cocktails with
spectacular views from SKÝ
The Christmas menu will be served all weekends
(Fri-Sun) in December.
skyrestaurant.is - Ingólfsstræti 1 - 101 Reykjavik - Tel 595 8545
While working as an artist
in Iceland in 2009, yoga
expert Lana Vogestad real-
ized two things were miss-
ing in Reykjavík: hot yoga
and stuff to do in the days
between Christmas and
New Year’s. Thus, an annual
holiday hot yoga retreat
tradition was born! Rejoice!

Now in its fourth year, Lana’s retreat
will run from December 27 to Decem-
ber 31 at World Class Laugar (note
that World Class membership is not
required). This year, it will incorpo-
rate a mix of hot yoga and hot vinyasa
classes, an alignment workshop and a
live music meditation led by musician
Mikael Lind.
One of the retreat’s standouts is
the incorporation of live music. To
close this year’s event, West African
drummer Cheick Ahmed Tidiane Ban-
gouora will drum up a sweat through-
out the entire final class, giving a
performance that Lana predicts will
be both raw and powerful. “I spend
a lot of time on my playlists. They’re
kind of like an art piece for me,” she
explains as we discuss the ways in
which hot yoga opens participants up
to surrounding sound, music and even
sights.
Lana says she began studying hot
yoga in 2000, and quickly fell in love,
going on to study under influential
hot yoga teachers everywhere from
San Francisco to New York—even
learning under the extensive guidance
of one of the most masterful teachers
of Bikram yoga, Jimmy Barkan. In-
spired by the lack of hot yoga classes
in Iceland upon relocating to the
country, Lana began training to teach
hot yoga in 2009, and started teaching
soon after. In the years following,
she has taught classes in the US and
beyond, although she always returns
to Iceland to run her hot yoga holiday
retreat.
Focus, perseverance, patience
According to Lana, the benefits of hot
yoga are manifold, even beyond the
increased audial sensitivity. “Hot yoga
helps improve focus, perseverance,
patience and the ability to stay in the
present moment, which is needed to
make it through a hot class.”
WHAT’S A HOT
YOGA? WHAT’S A
HOT VINYASA, THEN?

For those unfamiliar with (and per-
haps frightened by) intentionally
heated exercise, hot yoga simply
involves doing a series of postures
in a very hot, very humid room.
The heat and humidity allow for
greater flexibility, which helps par-
ticipants go more deeply into the
various positions. While Bikram
yoga and hot yoga stem from the
same lineage, hot yoga is different
in that it allows for more variance
in and freedom of postures. Rather
than teaching the same positions
over and over, Lana has the free-
dom to create and introduce new
ones into her class.
Hot vinyasa tends to be a bit
more challenging than hot yoga,
requiring a more rigorous flow, as
well as increased cardiovascular
and upper body activity. Still,
beginners and experts alike can
partake in any of the classes, as
Lana offers options for all levels of
yogi during each session.

Hot Yoga
Is Worth
Melting
For
By Rebecca Conway