When it comes to expenses in college, many students are not able to put their health at the top of their budget plan. Between textbooks, paying for tuition, living expenses and more, paying for things like a gym membership or a yoga class, or even finding time for these things, may seem out of the question.

That’s why when a huge “$5 yoga class” is placed on the side of a business, I immediately pay attention. As community college students, many of us finance our tuition, work jobs and study endlessly, completely leaving our physical and mental health aside. Yoga is known to be a practice that can exert your body and balance your thoughts.

The owner of this large, college-student-grabbing sign is Hot Yoga Naperville. Hot Yoga Naperville provides two solutions: cheap classes and a wide variety of times.

Looking for these two solutions myself, I chose to attend this class that they so passionately promoted. “Community Class” takes place every Monday and Wednesday beginning at 8:15 p.m.

Before attending the class, I had no idea what to expect. I’ve taken a dozen yoga classes, each ranging with difficulty, yet never in temperatures of over 100 degrees. And although I wish I regularly exercised, I hadn’t in months.

These two things combined painted the image in my mind that I would end up as a sweaty, drenched, twisted, cramping being..

Attempting to soothe my worries about a possible heat stroke, I took to Hot Yoga Naperville’s website. As advised, I arrived a little over 15 minutes early, handed a woman a $5 bill, and waited outside the room with others.

Each person around me looked different. There were no stereotypical mothers out for their yoga class together. There were young and old, men and women, black, white, all clutching their yoga mats together. Some even engaged in conversation, showing they knew each other. This was an actual community for others, a place where they felt welcomed and calm. Even before the class I felt the same emotions towards this new environment.

As the previous class ended, we all shuffled in, placing our mats and towels down where we chose. The temperature was drastically different than the outside of the classroom. Immediately it felt like summer, almost like a sauna. Yet, it was extremely easy to breathe in once you sat and stretched, due to there being no extra moisture as would be custom for an actual sauna.

There were no lights except what shined in from the entrance area, just a large modest room with wall-to-floor mirrors and wooden floors.

Then the sweat began. All I was doing was sitting there, stretching my slightly less nervous limbs and the heat forced me to sweat. I started to see why I had heard such good things about hot yoga. Even though you may not exert yourself in a way you do during a typical gym circuit, the heat will make your body sweat as if you were.

It made me excited, yet nervous. If I was sweating now, I couldn’t imagine what I was going to look like after the hour was over. Yet, my body was already benefitting by sweating. I was more nervous than excited.

Heather entered with a calm voice. She was our instructor for the night, and she thanked us for choosing to take her class tonight. Her smooth voice asked us to lay on our backs, focus on our breathing and keep our eyes open, so that we remain present in the moment.

This “corpse pose,” formally known as “shavasana,” started and ended our practice per usual for a yoga class. Shavasana turned into forward folds, downward dogs, and the flow began.

As we flowed into different poses, I was perplexed by how my body was reacting to the heat and the movements. Although it was, without a doubt, hot inside the room, my body felt as if it was connected to the heat. The room and my body felt as if they were the same temperature, providing me with a strange phenomenon of being weightless. The heat had warmed up my muscles. I felt as if I was able to stretch more, advance my poses and generally push my body further and further.

I didn’t sweat through my shirt like expected. I didn’t even drip sweat down my face, but the heat still provided something a normal yoga class could not.

Overall, the flow was perfect for a community class. Each community member brings a different range of yoga knowledge: none to advanced. Every pose allowed for a more advanced “yogi” to push themselves and allowed for beginners to ease themselves in. There was no need for prior yoga experience, Heather demonstrated each pose as well as walked around assisting whenever needed. Along with directing the physical moves, she read us mantras to engage our minds as well.

As we returned to the ending position of shavasana, a cold, wet towel was placed on our foreheads. Simultaneously it brought our bodies and minds back to life, back to a normal temperature. Our souls honored one another through the word “Namaste,” and we left the room. Though the heat was gone, and I was easing back into the normal room temperature, my body still felt weightless. It felt like I spent $30 for my first hot yoga class, not just $5. My body felt relaxed and sweaty, and my mind felt more centered than ever.

Not only was I surprised with my taking to the temperature and how professional and natural the flow was, but the facilities were extremely clean, welcoming and had personality. It was easy to see how so many have already taken up the experience of Hot Yoga Naperville.

Besides $5 community classes, any student with a valid ID under the age of 25 is able to pay $5 as a drop-in fee to any class (except Bootcamp), without a membership. Classes begin at 5 a.m., giving plenty of time to stop in before class or work, and end with an 8 p.m. class. Memberships are always available, but if your schedule is like mine, $5 for dropping in to any class is enough.

Whether you’re located in Naperville or not, a little drive is worth it. Hot Yoga Naperville officially turned me from a normal-temperature-yoga-liking-person to a I-only-ever-want-to-do-hot-yoga-for-the-rest-of-my-life-person. Check out a daily class schedule and all Hot Yoga Naperville has to offer at hotyoganaperville.com