There are so many things I adore about this studio. They bring such a superior game to this small…read morecity. I really hope they continue to hold themselves to the high standard that they've set. Keep it up!!! Hot Spot does a great job of making newcomers feel welcome. I started here, but I've since been to studios where they sort of shout out directives and move from the next pose to the other without helping you or directing your breath. Here, they not only introduce each pose but gently remind you of its proper form. Each instructor takes care to pay attention to the direction of the breath and remind you of which muscles and organs you're engaging ("This is helping your transverse colon...." -- and things like that.) It's a great reminder of the "why" to it all and it refocuses your mind to really engage in the posture. The studio itself is really cute, really clean, feels new, and makes me want to come back or never leave. The practice room has never had even the faintest smell. Sometimes before Yin yoga starts (deep stretching class that is AMAZING!!!) they will light some incense which really sets the mood. The lights are always dim or off, which I really like and have learned is not always the case at all studios! All of the instructors are adorable. They all follow the same sort of generalized script, but each one has their own changes, additions, emphasis, intonation. I get giddy every time I have every instructor here, there is no going wrong with any of them. One thing I really love about the class is that instructors will walk around at parts of the practice. Sometimes they will adjust your posture, but other times they will help you reach a deeper level of the posture that you wouldn't be able to without their help. I have had instructors hold my feet down during cobra to allow my back to really soar. I've also had some lift me in the pose where you're on your belly, holding your ankles with your hands. (What's that one called again??) Incredible back stretch. My favorite posture is Camel Pose ("This is a heart opening posture!") Overall, the tone is always warm, soothing, and absolutely 'detoxifying' -- many of them will add affirmations to the end of practice, and really treat it as the spiritual practice that it is. I feel rejuvenated every time I come. All levels are welcome. I feel so lucky to have started hot yoga here!

My experience with Hot Spot changed after a hurtful incident during class. By then, I had attended…read moremore than 700 yoga classes without incident. Afterward, ownership wanted to talk to me. I said no. I was overwhelmed and needed time. I also made clear that I did not hold ownership responsible for another member's behavior. I have a disability. Hot Spot later conditioned my participation on a private meeting with ownership. I explained that I was not comfortable with that and requested an accommodation. Before returning, I put my boundaries in writing. If Hot Spot intended to restrict my access or refuse my business, I needed to be told in writing before I arrived. I also asked that prior issues stay out of the studio and not become gossip among instructors, staff, or members. There was a reason. I had already experienced an incident outside the studio in which a member of ownership approached me from behind while I was leaving, grabbed me, and swung me around after I had said I did not want the confrontation. After that, my boundary was simple: if I am leaving, let me leave. I received no written restriction. I returned for class under my current name. The instructor was the owner's husband. I had a good class and posted a positive review because I believed we had moved forward. I came back the next morning for the 9:30 class. Again, I registered under my current name. The owner's husband recognized me and said, "Welcome." Employees and other students knew me. Hot Spot later characterized my attendance as "sneaking in." I registered under my name, walked through the front door, was recognized by ownership, and attended the entire class. There was nothing hidden about my presence. At the end of class, I asked where the other fire exit was because I could not identify another usable exit and had concerns about accessibility. The instructor then told me the owner's husband was waiting in the lobby and that I needed to speak with him. I did not want that conversation. When I entered the lobby, the first words out of my mouth were, "I'm scared of you." He told me he had reviewed all of my files and that I knew I was not allowed there until I spoke privately with his wife, the owner. I did not know that. I had asked for written notice before any restriction was enforced. I had received none. People from the Yakima Valley community were coming and going. An employee had her phone up in a way that made me believe she was recording. Another student was sitting next to me. I had practiced around her hundreds of times and had never spoken to her. She said, "You should really leave. Nobody wants you here." I still do not know what she had been told about me or what had circulated that made her feel I deserved to hear that. That was the moment I ran to the back of the studio and hid. My belongings were still at the front, next to the owner's husband, the instructor, and that student. I could not leave without going back toward the people I was afraid of, and I could not identify another usable exit from the back. That left me trapped inside the building. I was not refusing to leave. I was trying to get my belongings and leave safely. I called 911. Police gave me a choice: leave without a formal trespass or have the studio formally trespass me. I chose the formal trespass because I wanted a record that the studio was refusing me service after I had raised disability-related concerns and requested an accommodation. Hot Spot can decide it does not want my business. I had already told them how to communicate that decision without putting me into another confrontation or a situation likely to activate my disability. I had more than 700 yoga classes behind me before any of this began. Yoga mattered enough to me that I still wanted to return to Hot Spot. I asked for space at the beginning. I asked for a safe way to handle things at the end. There were many opportunities in between to choose something kinder