Meet Ravinder Pilson | Owner/Founder & Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ravinder Pilson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ravinder, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
Perseverance. From construction to opening to dealing with COVID and ever-changing regulations, nothing goes as smoothly as you would hope, but you need to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep going. It’s sink or swim!

What should our readers know about your business?
Hot For Yoga in Santa Clarita is a hot fitness studio. We specialize in Bikram yoga (hot yoga) and Inferno Hot Pilates, as well as meditation, Vinyasa, and yin yoga. We built the studio from the ground-up, dealing with over a year and a half of construction before opening our doors. By constantly pivoting and never missing a class, we survived the “COVID-era.” We dealt with the numerous restrictions and regulations by going from in-studio only to online only, to both in-studio and online, to outdoors and online, and now again to in-studio and live online classes as well as a vast 24-7 video on-demand library. Our incredible community stuck with us and supported us as we supported them and collectively navigated through these uncharted waters.
Whenever you go into a new studio, the first class is always the most intimidating. Our team and our community are so welcoming to first-timers…we’ve all been there and understand! We all do the best we can, whatever that may be at the time. We practice without judgement and without comparing ourselves to the person next to us or to a previous version of ourselves. You work to your body’s current capabilities, even if that means laying down and absorbing the heat, instructions, and energy the whole class.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh wow…we’re going to have so much fun! Day 1: We’ll start out for a hike at Towsley Canyon. We’ll then stop by the Valencia Town Center and have lunch at Lazy Dog Cafe (the Grilled 5 Cheese sandwich for me please….you’ll have to have a bite!) and then stop by lululemon to pick out the best workout gear for later with the help of their amazing and helpful educators!
Next, we’ll visit downtown Newhall, where we’ll stroll and shop and find some unique finds and support small businesses like Maison on Main, Salt and Freckles, and Barn and Charm. We’ll catch a flick at the Laemmle, then have a bite and a drink at Maginn’s Irish Pub!
Day 2: OK, now we need a hot yoga class to stretch out properly after that hike yesterday, so (shameless plug!) off to Hot For Yoga we go! Afterwards, a yummy and healthy lunch at Daily Harvest. We’ll see a local production at The Canyon Theatre Guild or The Main, go across the street for some comfort food and live music at the Smokehouse on Main and then some deliciousness at Pop’s Creamery down the street after…walking there and back, of course!
Day 3: We’re going to take a day trip to Ojai! We’ll visit the Ecotopia Hot Springs for a couple of hours and then to The Ivy in Ojai, FiG, Bart’s Books (one of the best bookstores in the LA area!), meals, bites, sips and treats at Casa Barranca, Agave Maria’s, Harvest Moon, The Nest, Hakane Sushi, The Ojai Beverage Company, Ojai Ice Cream (I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a bad restaurant around here!) and then continue shopping at the numerous thrift and boutique stores in the area. and walking through Libbey Park.
Day 4: Today we’re going to go to Mentryville for a hike, and then to the The Gentle Barn to spend some time with the cows and pigs and other animals here! We’ll head back into town afterwards for dinner at Love Sushi and then some live music and wine at Double Trouble in Old Town Newhall .
Day 5: Let’s do a trip downtown…we’ll take the Metro train from Newhall to DTLA and visit The Last Bookstore, Little Damage for ice cream, Olvera Street, Avila Adobe and El Paseo Inn for a bite, and then to The Grammy Museum.
Day 6: We’re going to spoil ourselves today (as if we haven’t been already!) with a 90 minute massage at White Orchid Thai Spa. We’ll have lunch at Wokcano or Salt Creek, and then we’ll get a mani-pedi at Richard’s Nail Salon. Dinner at Draconum and then outside to their beer garden to play some Cornhole and Bocci Ball!
Day 7: Back to Hot For Yoga for class and then a bite and tea at Honu Coffee. Tonight, we’re going to check out a fun band that’s in town…because there is always something going on not too far! So, we can go to The Canyon in Santa Clarita, or take a little trip and go to the Wiltern, The Hollywood Bowl, The Whisky, Roxy, Viper Room….where ever it is that someone we want to see is playing! If we’re down in Hollywood, then dinner at Toi on Sunset, The Rainbow, or Tenmasa.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family, friends and our yoga community have all been extremely supportive from the very beginning of my vision to bring our therapeutic hot yoga and powerful hot Pilates classes to the Santa Clarita Valley area.

Website: www.HotForYogaSCV.com

Instagram: HotForYogaSCV

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hotforyoga

Twitter: HotForYogaSCV

Facebook: HotForYogaSCV1

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/hot-for-yoga-santa-clarita-2

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOuwZsQY9Q5TKhqqMraZqBg

Image Credits
Main photo by Armin Razmy