An Open Letter Regarding the Heat at our Kitsilano Hot Yoga Studio

January 9, 2013 7:25 pm

Edited by

105 degrees Farenheit Thermostat

Dear Fellow Students,

 

We realize that the heating and temperature at our Kits studio has been inconsistent this past fall and winter. And we gratefully appreciate the feedback, input, and patience of the students that practice at Kits, whether you have just started, or have been practicing with us for years. I assure you that the issue and concerns frustrate all of us (staff and students). From approximately October 1, 2012 to the present day, the temperature has been between 99F and 112F, depending on the time of day. As you might know, Bikram requires us to keep the room at 105F whenever possible.

This fluctuation in heat is something that has been caused by a multitude of events, some of which are out of our control. Specially, the following has occurred:

  • The boiler broke down in the first week of October, just as the summer weather was ending and temperatures were starting to cool down outside. By Halloween, the boiler was overhauled and running strong again.

Please be aware that mother nature is changing around the world. This city gets colder every winter, and as such, hot yoga rooms throughout the city are having difficulty heating up and staying hot. More times this winter than any other winter, we have woken up to find frost on our windshields, which means… the yoga room wakes up cold. Every winter season is an issue for our Kits studio. This winter, we have all experienced a difference in the room’s climate, mainly due to the cooling down period, that should have acclimatized us in October. Every season brings on a change in climate that effects the yoga room. When the boiler broke down, we missed out on the natural cool down period that mother nature would normally provide. This breakdown took the yoga room from ‘running very hot’ to ‘cooler than normal’ and then back up to our regular ‘winter heated conditions’. I assure you, if the boiler had not broken down, none of us would notice an issue with the difference in temperature this winter.

I’m confident to write and say that we have exhausted our efforts to ensure ourselves and our students that we do not have any equipment failures and we are operating as designed. Over the past month, we have done the following to investigate and mitigate the concerns:

  • Fully reviewed the equipment with two separate mechanical contractors to confirm that we are operating as designed
  • Changed all filters and adjusted belts, to maximize the performance of our equipment.
  • Created a log for our staff to track the temperatures throughout the day.
  • Have staff monitor and adjust the rooms settings on a daily basis to keep with the most current climate, and double all controls to ensure that students have not accidentally tweaked or bumped any controls to off set their programs.
  • For the AM classes, we have reprogrammed all timers to run earlier, so that the yoga room can start warming up, as the winter night air is cooling down.
  • For the PM classes, we no longer turn the steamer off mid day, which will keep the room steamy and heated, as the afternoon and evening classes get busier.

I’ve practiced at Kits regularly for the past four years. At times it is the hottest studio in Canada, and other times (like these), its more in line with other hot yoga and Bikram studios. During times like these, we need to focus on our practice. Teachers might hold the postures a bit longer, or do a few extra takes of the breathing exercises, but working hard, pushing ourselves to our own limit is the best way to challenge ourselves and focus on our practice and not the environment around us.

Feedback and comments from students is something we will always welcome and need to keep our studios moving forward, and we truly appreciate the comments about this temperature difference. Please keep in mind that our studios see over 600 people a day, and satisfying the majority of our student’s desires is and will always be our first priority. We will continue to monitor, tweak and keep a general pulse on this issue, and should we find the Kits yoga room climate dropping below the Bikram standards, we will look for alternative heating solutions. I trust that students find this note to be informative and helpful, and that it will provide some closure to the temperature difference and our awareness of the Kits yoga room. I remain.

 

Yours truly,

 

Adam Steinberg

Bikram Yoga Vancouver

 

 

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