The Health Benefits of Yoga with Diana deLatour, Owner of Be Hot Yoga
In this inspiring episode of The Easewell Podcast, Dr. Jon sits down with Diana deLatour, owner of Be Hot Yoga in Atlanta, to explore the life-changing physical and mental benefits of yoga. Diana’s journey into yoga began during one of the most challenging times in her life, and her passion for the practice has since blossomed into both a teaching career and studio ownership. This conversation dives into why yoga is more than just stretching or strengthening—it's a powerful tool for holistic healing, resilience, and community-building.
Yoga as Moving Meditation: Beyond Flexibility & Strength
Yoga isn’t just about touching your toes or mastering impressive poses. As Diana explains, hot yoga—and specifically her studio’s approach, known as “Original Hot Yoga” or “26 and 2”—combines strenuous physical effort with mindful breathwork in a heated room. Practicing the same sequence of 26 postures each class allows students to quiet their minds, cultivate self-awareness, and find a meditative state, even in moments of intense physical challenge. Diana shares how moving meditation can help people break cycles of anxiety and stress, while building both mental and emotional resilience.
Real Stories, Real Change
The power of yoga extends far beyond the mat. From students who have improved their chronic health conditions to those who’ve transformed the way they handle daily stress and anxiety, Diana offers inspiring real-life examples from her studio. Whether it’s lowered blood pressure, improved thyroid numbers, or simply gaining the ability to “turn off your head,” yoga proves itself time and again as a supportive tool for every stage of life.
What Makes Be Hot Yoga Unique?
Unlike many hot yoga studios, Be Hot Yoga follows a set sequence, making classes accessible and beginner-friendly. The heat is intentionally intense (up to 106°F and 40% humidity) to promote detoxification and flexibility. But it’s not just about sweating—Diana emphasizes the judgment-free, community atmosphere, where everyone from teens to octogenarians, grandmas to professional athletes, can practice side by side and find their own growth.
Teaching, Training & Community Connection
Diana breaks down what it takes to become a certified yoga instructor, from 200-hour teacher trainings to ongoing education in anatomy, philosophy, and modifications. More than certifications, though, it’s the supportive studio culture and genuine connection between students and teachers that make Be Hot Yoga a beloved wellness hub in Atlanta.
Thinking of Trying Hot Yoga?
For first-timers, Diana explains what to expect—how to prepare, what to wear, and why it's absolutely okay to take breaks. The studio offers everything you need, including gentle "Yin" (formerly myofascial) classes for deep stretching and relaxation, plus hot Pilates for variety.
Key Takeaways:
Yoga is as much a mental and emotional practice as it is a physical one—offering profound benefits for anxiety, depression, and resilience.
The unique structure and heat of Original Hot Yoga helps you build self-awareness, confidence, and a meditative focus.
Real success stories from Diana’s studio underline how yoga can lead to tangible improvements in health metrics and stress management.
Be Hot Yoga’s community welcomes all ages and fitness levels, fostering connection and support.
Certification and teaching go beyond the postures, including philosophy, anatomy, and personal growth.
Meet Diana deLatour
Diana deLatour is the owner of Be Hot Yoga Atlanta, located right off the Eastside Beltline. After discovering Bikram (Original Hot) Yoga in 2007, Diana experienced a profound mental and physical transformation. Her dedication led her to teacher training and studio ownership, where she now shares her passion for holistic wellness with students from all walks of life.
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⏱️ Timestamps
00:00 Partnership Business Continuation Success
04:12 Mind-Clearing Mirror Yoga
08:40 Mindfulness Enhances Self-Awareness
10:03 Yoga Teacher Training Certification
14:07 Inclusive Fitness Community
17:54 Yoga's Mental Resilience Benefits
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Diana deLatour [00:00:00]:
The following is a Skutch media production. You know, if you can do that, like, you can make it through this. This class, this challenging class in this heat. It's sort of like, wow, I think I can do anything.
Dr. Jon [00:00:18]:
Hey, guys. Welcome to another episode of the Ease well podcast. Today we have the lovely Diana, the owner of Be Hot Yoga, right over here in Atlanta on the east side, Beltline. So welcome in, Diana.
Diana deLatour [00:00:30]:
Thank you.
Dr. Jon [00:00:30]:
All right, nice to have you here. And we're just going to jump right into it. Okay?
Diana deLatour [00:00:33]:
Okay.
Dr. Jon [00:00:34]:
All right. So similar to chiropractic, everyone always has one of those yoga saved my life stories. And I read on your website, yours was around 2007 or so. Could you tell me a little bit more about that?
Diana deLatour [00:00:46]:
You know, I'd always done different kinds of exercise over the years, you know, from like aerobics to jogging, this and that, but I hadn't really done yoga. I'd heard about it, I'd read about it. I. And I found myself in kind of like a bad time, you know, well, really bad time in my life. You know, deaths in the family, health wasn't great, relationship status was pretty dreadful. And somehow I. I picked up a card actually one day and. And it was for, at the time, Bikram Yoga Atlanta. And so I went to class. I didn't know what to expect, and I just kind of left feeling like, okay, I just need to keep doing this. And over the months that followed, I just started feeling so much stronger, you know, physically, but also mentally and emotionally. Like, it really, I just. And again, I didn't have the expectation or the understanding of exactly what was happening, but I just knew that it was kind of pulling me out of a really difficult time and giving me strength and tools to, like, get through it.
Dr. Jon [00:01:45]:
That's amazing.
Diana deLatour [00:01:46]:
Yeah.
Dr. Jon [00:01:46]:
And you didn't really know what you were getting, getting into at the beginning. You were just kind of like, I like this, I like the results I'm seeing, and let's keep doing this.
Diana deLatour [00:01:53]:
Exactly.
Dr. Jon [00:01:53]:
Very nice. That's awesome. What inspired you to open your own studio?
Diana deLatour [00:01:58]:
So actually I practiced at this studio and I loved it so much that I had made up my mind if they ever did a teacher training, I wanted to be in it. And sure enough, I guess a couple, about three years later, they announced the teacher training. So I did it, I got accepted, and so I started teaching. So this was in 2010. And so I began teaching, which I absolutely loved. And then in 2017, the owners decided they had owned it for like 16 years. They decided they were done. They wanted to kind of move on, do other things. And they asked me and my partner, Suzanne, if we wanted to buy it and keep it going, and we said yes. Now we both have other careers, and, you know, so it wasn't, you know, we. We had other things going on, but we wanted it and we didn't want it to go away. And so we were very fortunate to, you know, we basically took over this existing business, and so we were in the same location. We have a new landlord that, you know, that we did before, but we've been really lucky with this, you know, to carry that forward, so we didn't have to start from scratch, basically.
Dr. Jon [00:03:04]:
Sure. And is it. Was it in the location it is today? It is right there. Very nice. So you just kind of picked it up and continued the growth.
Diana deLatour [00:03:10]:
Exactly.
Dr. Jon [00:03:11]:
Awesome. Very nice. What a cool story. And did you know Suzanne Pryor?
Diana deLatour [00:03:15]:
Yeah, well, we met in teacher training, actually.
Dr. Jon [00:03:17]:
Okay.
Diana deLatour [00:03:17]:
And then.
Dr. Jon [00:03:18]:
Very nice. Love it.
Diana deLatour [00:03:20]:
All about the yoga. Yeah.
Dr. Jon [00:03:21]:
Yeah. So you touched on this a little bit earlier. Obviously, people, when they think of yoga, they think of the physical benefits a lot. So strengthening your core, loosening up your hips, opening up your upper back. I could go on forever. But the mental aspect is a lot of things that people either don't know, maybe they heard about. For me personally, that's one of the things that draws me to yoga. It's my quiet time. I can clear my head. So I was wondering if you could just kind of elaborate some more about the mental benefits of yoga.
Diana deLatour [00:03:48]:
We call it a moving meditation. Right. So you're doing the postures, you're bringing your awareness to your body and your breath. And so it's a great way to get you out of your head and into your body more. And it's very hard to think about anything when you're in a lot of these postures because they're very challenging.
Dr. Jon [00:04:06]:
They are, surprisingly. They look easy when you see them, and then you're in them and your arms are shaking, so. Yeah, most definitely.
Diana deLatour [00:04:12]:
So it definitely helps your mind clear. The yoga we do, we don't have music in the room. We have a big wall of mirror. You're looking at yourself in a mirror for most of the class. So you kind of get that focus on yourself, and again, your body, your breath, you get that sort of connection with yourself that comes through the visual, but also through the movement and the connection and the breath and. And I just find that that was one of the things I experienced, too, and still do. And students do all the Time is you realize you can turn your head off like for a few seconds. And once you realize that, you can expand on that like, oh, if I can turn it off for a few seconds, maybe I can turn it off for a few more seconds.
Dr. Jon [00:04:58]:
Continue to build on that.
Diana deLatour [00:04:59]:
Exactly, yeah.
Dr. Jon [00:05:01]:
There's no better feeling when you're just in a yoga studio. You're relaxed, your mind is clear, you're not worrying about anything else. You feel that nice belly breath. So I know that feeling well, ye. It takes you to another place like you said. So that's awesome. Yeah. Because I've actually read some research about like anxiety, depression, people who suffer with that and they've done yoga for years and have seen those symptoms improve tremendously.
Diana deLatour [00:05:24]:
There's actually been a recent study, a woman at Harvard did a study of our kind of yoga, Bikram yoga, and so she actually studied depression. And so some people were assigned to talk therapy, some to medicine and some to actually do Bikram yoga. And the yoga participants actually improved and some ways as much or more than the other, the other parties. And this is a really, you know, pretty, pretty fairly rigid, as rigid as you can be with yoga scientific study. So there's a, you know, we feel it, but I think more and more, there's more getting to be more people that are actually studying these things and a little bit more proof.
Dr. Jon [00:05:59]:
That's amazing. I love to hear that. So speaking of the type of yoga, Bikram yoga that you guys do at your studio, how does that differ from other types of yoga?
Diana deLatour [00:06:07]:
So it's a particular sequence. So it was originally called Bikram. We've all gotten away from the name there because of the association with the person that started it. But the yoga itself is amazing. So it's 26 postures, two breathing exercises. So we call it now it's called me like original hot yoga, or you might hear it called 26 and 2. Some people still call it Bikram, but it's the same sequence. And so it differs in some ways from other yogas that it is the same sequence of postures every single time. You know, you start and end, same sequence, same postures. It's also a little bit different in that it's in a really hot room. So I mean, I've done hot yoga before.
Dr. Jon [00:06:45]:
Yes. Dripping sweat.
Diana deLatour [00:06:47]:
Yeah. People, you know, say hot yoga can be, you know, and that's a pretty broad term, but it could be 94 at a hot yoga room. Our room is like 106 and it's about 35 to 40% humidity. Oh, my God. So it is. I mean, it's really hot. And you get. You know, so you do get this amazing detox and this amazing sweet. And I think that it's interesting because the sequence being the same part of that does let your head relax because you don't have to think about what's coming next. Like, once you're familiar with the series, you don't have to think about it or really use your mind at all. Your body, you kind of get that body, physical memory, and your body goes with it. And I think that's part of the meditation of it.
Dr. Jon [00:07:30]:
Yeah. It's funny you say that, because sometimes if I'll go into a studio and they're saying certain things, terms or poses you haven't heard before, you kind of have to turn your head, look up. It kind of throws you out of your groove. Like you were saying, you kind of know what's coming next. You can kind of just relax and kind of build on that every time you come in.
Diana deLatour [00:07:46]:
Yeah, you don't have to think about it.
Dr. Jon [00:07:47]:
Yeah, exactly. That's pretty cool.
Diana deLatour [00:07:49]:
Yeah.
Dr. Jon [00:07:49]:
So just to touch on how yoga can kind of change people's lives, we kind of touched on the mental, physical, your story. I was just wondering if you maybe had a story or two of, like, people who come into your studio and maybe change some things around. Obviously not names, things of that nature, but just something cool. Somebody who maybe had gone through something maybe physical, mental, and it kind of turned their life around a little bit.
Diana deLatour [00:08:10]:
I mean, there's so many of them.
Dr. Jon [00:08:12]:
I figured as much, but maybe just one or something. Just.
Diana deLatour [00:08:15]:
Yeah. I mean, like, just recently, I've had two students. One younger woman. I mean, she's probably maybe 28, 30. And she was talking about how since she's been practicing, her. When she goes to her annual doctor, gets her blood test, like, her actual numbers are improving. Um, we've had one student whose thyroid numbers have improved without medication. I mean, you know, so, you know, she was telling me the other day, like, her blood pressure's better. You know her, all her values are better since she's been practicing. So there's, like, part of the physical. And I had another student the other day tell me that he is now noticing more what is happening for him. Before, he would have been aware of it before. So he says, you know, like, I'm at work now, and I can feel, if I start getting anxious, like, I could start feeling this tension rising. And he said, I couldn't. I didn't notice it before until it was too late. Like before he had, he wouldn't really feel it until he was like on full on anxiety attack. And now he's like, you know, I can feel it and I can also then do something about, I can do my breathing and I can like calm it down. So those are, I think just some of the ways or some of the things that we hear.
Dr. Jon [00:09:24]:
We have stories like that all the time. Because people live in so much pain, they're constantly in it that their body almost be becomes numb to it. So they come in to see us, their back pain dissipates and then they're almost more aware now because they feel so good. A slight pain that eases in that they normally probably wouldn't even have noticed prior to coming to see us. But they're just so in tune with their body now. And like you said, he caught that well before was able to notice it, do something about it. So it's pretty cool.
Diana deLatour [00:09:49]:
Yeah.
Dr. Jon [00:09:49]:
Yeah. Thanks for sharing those. All right. So you were talking about how you became a yoga teacher a little bit. So I just kind of was wondering if you could break that down because it's like not easy. I read you have to do about 200 hours of classes and training. So could you kind of go through those steps?
Diana deLatour [00:10:03]:
The most popular one is called Yoga Alliance. So this is like the sort of governing body of yoga. So when I did my original training, I did it at the studio with the owners at that time. But then later I went and did a 200 hour yoga teacher training at another studio so I could get my certification. And then that's what we've offered at our studio. So we've done two teacher trainings in the last few years, since 2019 actually. And so it's 200 hours and you, you basically you learn everything. So you learn the postures, you know, you learn the dialogue. Right. And you learn the corrections modifications. But you also learn like yoga philosophy, history, we do anatomy, you know, just so there's all like an all encompassing kind of a training. So it's very interesting. I mean if you really, you know, if you're into it, I mean we learn a lot of cool stuff.
Dr. Jon [00:10:56]:
Stuff that's awesome. So how you said you've done two.
Diana deLatour [00:10:59]:
We did, yeah. The last one we graduated like two was it two years ago. And they are just great. We had 16 people that went through it with us and they, you know, it's a big commitment, big time. We, you know, commitment. And, and they had to practice, you know, A lot during time, and several of them are now teaching at our studio and even at other studios, and.
Dr. Jon [00:11:21]:
Great.
Diana deLatour [00:11:21]:
Yeah, they're doing really well with it.
Dr. Jon [00:11:22]:
We were talking about chiropractic and your experience a little bit earlier on. So you've been adjusted before, correct?
Diana deLatour [00:11:27]:
Oh, y. Yeah.
Dr. Jon [00:11:28]:
And I was gonna ask you, what was your experience? Like, did you have some benefits? Hopefully no bad things this week.
Diana deLatour [00:11:33]:
No. No. But can I. Can people see the dog? So I've got a dog on the couch next to me, and this is, like, this is gonna. This is my story about chiropractic. So many years ago, I had this dog that was just so dear to me, and she developed a laxated patella. Right. Her knee. And so they wanted to do surgery, but somehow I read about an animal chiropractor, and I started taking her. I'd never been myself, and so I started taking her, and it helped her so much that she never had to have that surgery. And she lived her whole life without, you know, that pain and that limp, and it was just remarkable. And so I was like, well, maybe I should try this.
Dr. Jon [00:12:19]:
Yeah. Worked on my dog. It'll work on me.
Diana deLatour [00:12:21]:
It worked on me, too. So I. Yes, I have gone over the years many, many times, and I just, you know, again, it's. It's similar in a way, like getting in touch with your body and getting your body back to, I guess, baseline and health. That is sort of similar to yoga that way, but maybe, you know, a little quicker.
Dr. Jon [00:12:40]:
Yes, sometimes. Yes. And they both work with the nervous system, too, which is great. Which is that central nervous system. It controls everything in the body. So yoga, like we were talking about earlier, obviously those parasympathetics, the rest and digest part of your nervous system. And obviously, chiropractic, we. We affect it all as well. So it's cool how they kind of just blend together, complement a healthy lifestyle.
Diana deLatour [00:13:00]:
Exactly. And I think if you adjust. If you. If you have good alignment and you. You know, alignment's super important in yoga, and that's what you guys, you know, help people get aligned, you know, in their body. And then. And then, you know, in yoga, if you. If you have that good alignment, then you build on it, you know, and you develop, like, the muscle memory and the strength around the proper alignment, 100%. So I think the two of them.
Dr. Jon [00:13:21]:
Go well together to that point. I would say some of our patients that hold their adjustments the longest do yoga regularly.
Diana deLatour [00:13:28]:
Really?
Dr. Jon [00:13:29]:
They're teachers, or they go once, twice, three times a week. But, yeah, I've noticed that they'll hold them, they'll come in every, I don't know, a month or so, and they're feeling pretty darn good, so. And I'm going to say attribute a good bit of that to yoga, for sure. So it's pretty cool to see that how they. Like I said, they work together pretty well.
Diana deLatour [00:13:45]:
Yeah, for sure.
Dr. Jon [00:13:46]:
All right, so I know this will be a hard one. Not necessarily, but. What would you say your favorite thing is about yoga? Just in general? It can be very specific. It could be how it changed your life. It could just be something very general, but just something that you would say. One of your favorite things about practicing or owning a studio.
Diana deLatour [00:14:02]:
Oh, gosh, it's. Well, it's. It's. If it's the studio, it's the people.
Dr. Jon [00:14:05]:
Sure. Just the community.
Diana deLatour [00:14:07]:
It's the community. I mean, it's. We have. It's so interesting, the variety of people that come in. I mean, we have everyone literally from 16 to in their 80s and all different fitness levels. We have professional athletes. We have, you know, grandmas. You know what I mean? It's like everyone is able to do it to their own level and to just have that variety of people come together and, like, move together, you know, there's all this great research, too, about, you know, people in the. In a space that are moving together, even listening to music together. Like, your brainwaves connect.
Dr. Jon [00:14:44]:
Sure. It brings you together a little bit.
Diana deLatour [00:14:45]:
Yeah. And people, you know, after class are talking and laughing, and I think that's my favorite thing, you know, and to see that people are. They're happy, they feel good when they leave. Sometimes they're a little bit overwhelmed and they're like, okay, look at me. Like, yeah. Really? Okay. That was hard.
Dr. Jon [00:14:59]:
It was a bit more than I.
Diana deLatour [00:15:00]:
Was expecting, but I think for. For. Absolutely. It's the community.
Dr. Jon [00:15:05]:
Yeah. And especially where you guys are located. I mean, most people, I'm sure, ride their bike there, walk there. I mean, the same thing with our practice. Most people live within two miles or so. So you see people out, you make friends. So that's. Community is really. It's really cool to see, so. Yeah. Well, nice. So if somebody were to come into your studio, what would they expect? So maybe when. From where they walk in to what they learn, how many times a week they should do it. How does that whole process go for somebody who just calls you up and says, like, hey, I'm interested in coming in, how would that kind of be handled?
Diana deLatour [00:15:35]:
Well, you'd come in you want to come in not on a full stomach for sure, because you're going to. That's not going to feel good. So come in. You know, maybe you have a little smoothie or something, but you know, something light. Wear light stretchy clothes. I mean, you're gonna sweat a lot, that's for sure. You don't need anything but a mat and towel, water to drink. And we have all that stuff. We've got, you know, showers, we've got, you know, mats, towels, everything people need there. And I think just be prepared to just be really open to the experience and know that it's okay to take a break, like sit down. If you need to sit down, you can, you know, if you have injuries or something, we can give you some modifications, which I usually need.
Dr. Jon [00:16:13]:
There's bricks under my butt, three of those things to sit up straight. I know it's sad being a chiropractor.
Diana deLatour [00:16:19]:
You gotta adjust yourself.
Dr. Jon [00:16:20]:
I know, right? Gosh. Unbelievable.
Diana deLatour [00:16:23]:
So, yeah, I mean, and you know, the classes, we have one hour. Most of our classes are 75 minutes, but we have some one hour, some 90 minute classes. We also have some hot Pilates that we've added in the last few years. And that's a lot of fun. It's very different. It's like, lots of, it's loud music and lots of like really targeted muscle work. So you know, developing a lot of core strength and, and it's a lot of fun. It's a good addition to the practice, you know, but primarily the yoga. Yeah, I would just say come in and try it. If you absolutely can't be hot for any medical reason, then, you know, don't do it. Other than that, come in and just really be prepared to sweat and you know, definitely get a stretch on and just kind of be open to the experience.
Dr. Jon [00:17:05]:
Yeah, definitely. And then you guys also offer. I read myofascial.
Diana deLatour [00:17:09]:
We do, we've actually now we've renamed it as Yin because that's more familiar to people. And again, I think all yoga is great. So any kind of yoga that, I mean, people need to, you know, come do yoga. Okay, it doesn't matter, whatever it is, just do some yoga. But the Yin is a wonderful, relaxing class. Like it's not hot and it's just an hour and it's just basically stretching. And we'll do. Sometimes we'll take like a lacrosse ball. Each person has one that you kind of rub out the knots in your shoulders. It feels like, feels really good. So that's a nice. Also kind of addition to your practice, just to switch it up a little bit.
Dr. Jon [00:17:47]:
That's awesome. So, yeah, I think that's all we need to know for somebody who's ready to give you guys a call. Come in, check it out. So that's great.
Diana deLatour [00:17:54]:
Yeah. Another thing I wanted to talk about is more of the mental benefits of yoga. And one of the things is it's a very challenging experience, and there's times in class where you're definitely going to feel uncomfortable and kind of learning to be in discomfort, not pain, you know, nothing. You know, nothing threatening or anything, but just, like, being able to be in that and then to know that you're. You can go through that and come out the other side, and it sort of, like, shows you. It helps you deal with other uncomfortable situations when you're off the mat. And, I mean, of course, life is, you know, filled with. With discomfort and. And. And it's a challenge that you feel like, you know, if you can do that, like, if you can make it through this. This class, this challenging class in this heat, it's sort of like, wow, I think I can do anything. And it gives you that confidence.
Dr. Jon [00:18:45]:
I think that's amazing. I felt that a few times in yoga. Yeah. Coming out. Yeah. You just. You work your butt off. And I touched on this earlier. It looks easy when you just take a glance at it. You watch a video. But when your butt's in there and it's 100 degrees and you're slipping on the mat and your arms are shaking, I mean, you walk out of there and you're like. Like, man, I did it.
Diana deLatour [00:19:03]:
Yeah.
Dr. Jon [00:19:04]:
Yeah. So I definitely understand that for sure. So. Jeez. She's great. You're making my job easy. Really.
🔗 Connect
Want to experience the benefits of hot yoga yourself? Learn more about classes, teacher trainings, and community events at Be Hot Yoga Atlanta.
Website: https://www.behotyoga.com
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