Tiger Stretch Sesh: It’s a Hot Yoga Huddle

For many of Mizzou’s student-athletes, hot yoga has become an important part of training.

When Brandy Turner launched Lotus Hot Yoga three years ago, she had a vision for a boutique-style practice, something on the smaller side to offer an intimate yoga environment. What she couldn’t have imagined was that it would quickly become the go-to spot for many Mizzou athletes seeking to stretch their bodies and clear their minds. 

In January 2022, about eight months after Lotus opened its doors, Tiger quarterback Brady Cook and Barrett Banister, who at the time played wide receiver, approached her with a proposal: They would promote her business to other football players in exchange for discounted classes.  

The NCAA had just implemented its name, image, likeness — commonly known as NIL — policy, which allows student-athletes to make money on their personal brands. Among the activities allowed under this right of publicity policy is taking on affiliate/ambassador roles. 

“Being a new studio, we were able to offer a trade [of classes] for recognition,” Turner says. 

Cook and Banister made good on their end of the deal and spread the word to their teammates. 

“Pretty quickly, most of the offensive line started coming in with them, especially during the off-season,” Turner says. 

Pick Your Pose 

Most of the classes at Lotus are rooted in vinyasa, a dynamic style known for fluid flows from one asana, or pose, to another. Movements are coordinated with breathwork. Vinyasa can improve not only flexibility but also muscle strength, cardiovascular health, and emotional stability. 

Lotus also offers yin classes. These involve holding asanas for longer periods — typically two to five minutes — to target the ligaments and fascia. As with vinyasa, breathwork is important. In this case, it gives you something to focus on while you work through the “comfortable discomfort.” Benefits of yin include improved flexibility and range of motion, circulation, and emotional balance. 

On the weekends, there is also restorative yoga. These non-heated classes are focused on breath, movement, and stretching. Restorative yoga can help slow the heart rate and regulate blood pressure and can be especially beneficial to people struggling with anxiety, depression, insomnia, headaches, or other stress-related conditions.  

Some Like It Hot

Although Lotus does offer non-heated classes, hot yoga is the big draw. Benefits of bringing the heat include deeper stretches, improved circulation, and the satisfaction of getting in a good sweat. 

“It’s hot,” Turner says. “Temps are around 104 and 105 with about 35 to 40 percent humidity — very much like a Missouri summer.” 

Cook, who goes to Lotus once a week, says this combo of heat and humidity is the perfect thing to prepare players for the SEC’s often-punishing weather conditions. 

“Going into training camp in August, it helps prepare for being in that immense heat and moving our bodies,” Cook says.  

Safety Tre’Vez Johnson, who has been going to yoga twice a week since Cook introduced him to it, echoes that idea. 

“It definitely helps make it easier to get acclimated to whatever environment you’re playing in that day or that week,” he says. “This year we play at South Carolina. That’ll be a pretty hot game.”  

The Athletic Advantage 

Although some athletes might dismiss yoga as “just stretching,” players like Cook and Johnson will be the first to tell you it’s no joke. 

“It was definitely a lot harder than I expected,” Cook says of his first session. “We were exhausted, but at the same time rejuvenated. We knew we got good work in.” 

Cook credits yoga with improving his mobility — that is, the range of motion around his joints — thus decreasing his risk for injury. 

“Playing football at this level, your body gets put in a lot of interesting positions where you’re getting hit; you’re getting tangled up, your leg might be facing that way,” Cook says. “Having that pliability helps a lot.” 

Because vinyasa flows can be fast-paced, there’s a cardio benefit as well. 

“It’s great exercise for conditioning and stamina,” Johnson says. 

And because so many of the asanas activate the core — the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints in the abdomen, back, hips, and glutes — it can also improve balance and stability.  

Running back Cody Schrader, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the San Francisco 49ers this past spring, says a boost in balance has resulted in big improvements to his game.  

“I see it the most as I’m running toward the sideline. Instead of running out of bounds, it’s like I’m on a tightrope. I’m getting in three or four more yards,” Schrader says. “I’m able to keep my balance in a tight space while people are trying to hit me.” 

Mindfulness Matters 

Mindfulness has always been a key element to Turner’s teaching style. “It’s not a workout, it’s a work in,” she’s fond of saying. 

For Sean East II, who played point guard for the Tigers basketball team before signing an Exhibit 10 deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, the mindfulness aspect is huge. 

East says he enjoys the challenge of going through the vinyasa flows in 100-plus-degree heat. Forcing himself to stay mentally present in that physical challenge has given him a new mental resilience. 

“If you can endure the intense yoga session, I think you can endure almost anything,” East says 

Guard Tamar Bates says the ability to keep a clear head and focus on the challenge ahead of him — on and off the mat — has been huge. 

“When it’s loud and you’re on the road and the crowd is rocking, you have to find that calm and peace and execute when it matters most,” Bates says. 

Of course, it’s not only athletes who benefit from yoga’s mindfulness component. 

“It has not only helped my body physically, but has really helped me mentally as well,” says Lindsey Drinkwitz, wife of Tigers head football coach Eli Drinkwitz. “After enduring several panic and anxiety attacks, it truly helps bring a sense of calm to me and has taught me some much-needed breathing and relaxation techniques I am able to apply outside of the studio.” 

The Community Aspect 

The athletes do stand out in the studio. They’re taller than most people, and they’re often decked out in Mizzou gear. But if anyone’s feeling starstruck during sun salutation, well, it has not been an issue.  

Turner says her goal is to ensure a respectful environment for everyone. On occasion she will check in with the athletes to see if they are comfortable being approached for a photo or an autograph.  

And as it happens, many of the athletes say they enjoy interacting with their fellow yoga enthusiasts. The fact that so many of Turner’s students are regulars seems to help. 

“It gets to a point where we can build a comfortable relationship with people,” Bates says. “When you see somebody so much, we become more like regular people to them — which we are. That’s how we want to be treated.” 

And it’s these comfortable relationships that make Lotus a safe space. 

“The people who are always there are always nice,” Schrader says. “The majority of the time, it’s the same people, so you get to be familiar with them. Then when we blew up and our names started being more known — the popularity and the stuff that comes with being a football player — they already knew who we were. There were a lot of places in Columbia we couldn’t go.”