Is Hot Yoga Right for Me?
Hot Yoga has taken the world by storm offering a non-traditional form of practicing Yoga poses. In the Hot Yoga practice, elevated room temperature is meant to be beneficial in breaking down tissue blockages more readily and stimulating the release of toxins. But is this elevation in room and body temperature healthy and suitable for everyone?
There is much argument and criticism from the scientific community stating many logical reasons as to why Hot Yoga presents contraindications and health risks:
*inflated body temperature can create a false sense of laxity (joint flexibility) resulting in over stretching and tissue damage
*high body temperatures can generate hyperthermia states resulting in nausea, light headedness, and fainting
*excessive sweating can lead to dehydration that, without proper rehydration, can adversely affect cellular metabolism
*highly elevated body temperature and dehydration can lead to increased heart rate (compensation in delivering adequate blood flow) which can further lead to increased blood pressure - for those already dealing with high blood pressure, one could move into contraindicated states of blood pressure and circulatory issues
All of this is not written to scare off one from doing Hot Yoga. The purpose in presenting this information is for empowerment. As a business, many Hot Yoga studios market their practices as suitable for everyone. This is purely not the case. Any one with a history of musculoskeletal conditions or injuries should seek advice and clearance from a health professional before attempting Hot Yoga. The same is true for anyone who is obese, has high blood pressure, smokes, or has respiratory conditions.
If you are new to Hot Yoga, don’t go and buy a package of classes without trying a class first. Ask for a free pass or discount on the first class. Avoid getting stuck in a package that makes you feel obligated to attend multiple classes. With one class, you can do a TEST!
You should ENJOY the class physically and mentally. You should not experience any negative sensations like shortness of breath, nausea, rapid heart rate, or fatigue. The teaching and social environment should offer supportive, nurturing energy - no sense of competitiveness or “workout” should be emphasized. Ask for the teachers’ credentials: does their teaching philosophy reflect your view on health and wellness? do they offer modifications and encourage beginners to stay at appropriate levels? do they have a sufficient exercise science background that makes them effective, safe and competent in their teaching? When you are in the practice and after the practice, do you feel you have moved into a more positive state physically and mentally? Tap into Satya (truthfulness) when asking this question.
If you are completely new to Yoga. I personally recommend trying a basic Hatha Yoga class to develop your foundation of poses, breathing, and awareness. Learn first what is your limitations in range of motion at regular room temperature and learn modifications to address those limitations. With this knowledge and development of your Inner Teacher, you can then be more receptive and understanding of how your first Hot Yoga experiences should be.
Again, your Hot Yoga class should be enjoyable and foster a connection to the Inner Awareness. Avoid environments that enable the Ego to take hold. Regardless of the style of Yoga, find a Teacher that you can truly connect with and develop a trusting, honest relationship. Hot Yoga is an advanced practice and should be marketed as such. Be wary of Hot Yoga studios that don’t address this. We are all unique and in different stages of life hence we should not all be practicing the same.
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Hi annie, you present some good points, but I am dear friends with people who grew up practicing Yoga in India (very hot there), and they made a point of practicing very early in the mornings to avoid the heat.
As a previous personal trainer and kinesiologist, it is a fundamental principle that fitness instructors insist that fitness participants avoid training in excessive heat - the people jogging in 90 degree weather in the afternoon are performing a ‘contraindicated’ exercise.
Same with work conditions. Countries like Spain have mid day siestas so workers can get out of the heat.
Yes, hot yoga is not for everyone. Yes, jogging is not for everyone. This is one of the main points of this post-presenting Hot Yoga as ‘good for everyone’ is negligent as a marketing practice. Hot Yoga is something people must become accustomed to gently and gradually just like weight training or running. I would be more inclined to support Hot Yoga studios if they offered graduated heat levels in their classes and clearly promoted certain classes for beginners. I would also be more inclined to support Hot Yoga studios if my chiropractor and physiotherapist did not have so many ‘new clients’ due to Hot Yoga (whether this is related to the teachers or just to the individual practicing with Ego, I don’t know).
So, I do not support nor do I no support Hot Yoga. I encourage people to be aware, regardless of the type of Yoga, they attend. Also, I encourage people to be conscious of marketing and avoid getting drawn into membership plans that they will likely not utilize-start small and determine if this is really right for you (same for gyms!).
how can you people keep saying that working out in 95 degrees is unatural and in human. Doesnt half our planet reach temps in the 90s and above regularly. And yet people still manage to work outside, even jog and play sports. If we were not meant to be physical in such temps then ALOT of places in america and the rest of the world would be inhabitable or at the very least unproductive. While its true that bikram or hot yoga is not for everyone, most things are not for everyone. Weightlifting in an over aircondiditoned gym, and bouncing around on a cold hard floor certainly isnt for everyone. Bootcamp is not for everyone,but many people thrive and thank god for that! I encourage any fitness enthusiest to try it, with good old fashioned common sense. I have been doing it for years and the only times i have been nauseaus was when i wasnt taking care of my body, I.E. drinking the night before, eating junkfood, too much coffee, etc. which messes up your body weather you in a hot yoga class or not!
@Deb
Yes, you would slip more easily. But not really around on the mat. You can slip out of poses more easily, which is actually helpful. It forces you to have more physical control. For instance, in tree pose, you cannot simply rest your foot on the inside of your thigh. You have to engage all your muscles to keep your foot there. It’s much more effective.
I LOVE Bikram. My favorite by far. But it’s definitely not for everyone. People who aren’t perfectly aware of their bodies and limitations should not jump in willy nilly.
@Kreg Weiss
I 100% agree with you on this. Sometimes people come to yoga thinking it is supposed to be super easy and that if they get a little uncomfortable, the teacher must be doing something wrong. I was just unsure of where you were coming from on this.
Thank you
Hi Shanna,
I agree with you that a practice should offer times of progressive overload. When viewing fatigue, I express it from the level of uncontrolled fatigue where the person can no longer physically and mentally maintain integrity in the pose or exercise. Excessive fatigue that brings forward a loss of integrity readily causes increase incidence of injury and also creates a struggling energy in the nervous system which is counterproductive to the mental practice.
By all means, working the body is good. Beating the body (via the Ego) and not stopping when one should offers no benefit in the yoga practice.
Thanks for your input,
Kreg Weiss
My Yoga Online
I don’t agree with “fatique” being a reason to stop doing a yoga class. I good Vinyasa class should challenge the body physically so you will feel some fatigue during the class. This is true for any movement class such as aerobics that your body is not used to.
The post is really informative. There is one type of yoga known as Bikram yoga. It is regarded as most intensive. This kind of yoga yoga involves 26 different postures and 2 peathing exercises in 90 minutes. The exceptionality of Bikram yoga is that it is practiced in extreme heat.
Bikram Yoga is Advanced Medicine for the human body. The heat is required to get into the poses. It’s intense and it requires that you find a good teacher. You are your best teacher. The teachers go through a 9 week course. You cannot master something in 9 weeks. If your in seattle here is a good school: theashramyoga. Stu R.
Bikram yoga seems pretty gimmicky to me. How can it be good for your body to be doing vigorous exercise in such unnaturally high temperatures?
Like another poster said before, the nausea and headaches are not a sign your body is “releasing toxins”, it is the way your body tells you it is dehydrated.
Why do something so great for your body, like yoga, in environment that just causes it a massive amount of stress? Doesn’t make sense to me.
I went for the first time yesterday and I have to say, I would not recommend “hot yoga” to anyone. Yoga? Absolutely. Hot yoga? It’s a gimmick.
I used to do and love hot room yoga a couple of years back, but i tried it once several months ago and once yesterday and both times felt nausea and dizziness about half way through. I know I’ve loved it before, so I’m tempted to go back a couple more times to see if I can ‘work through it’ but part of me thinks it’s my body telling me that exercise in 95 degree heat is inhuman and unhealthy for me. Thanks for giving me the term “hyperthermia” to go google, the ‘nausea is a sign you’re releasing toxins’ is a little too unscientific an explanation for me - generally nausea is a sign that my body thinks I should stop doing something because it’s not good for me.
Thanks for a ballanced post on this topic. I tried Bikram Yoga a couple of times but was turned off by the drill sergeant attitude that pushed people to exceed their limitations. I’ve now found a hot yoga studio that does the same sequence but with a much healthier and friendlier approach that urges people not to overdo it. This created a space where I felt comfortable building up to doing the full class at my own pace. Even there, the paramedics had to be called once to help one participant experienced symptoms of moderate dehydration. And this is a class where this person’s symptoms were caught relatively quickly because the teacher checks in regularly with the new students and with anyone who is resting. I sometimes wonder if the Bikram teachers I had wouldn’t've just stood their shouting at this person to try harder.
You’re right that the heat isn’t for everyone - it seems to polarize students who either love it or hate it. http://www.bikramfinder.com, the social network for hot yoga fans is an interesting place to get a “behind the scenes” look at the practice.
The term “hot yoga” means that the class is conducted in temperatures that are significantly higher than room temperature. Now, depending on the approach of individual studios, the actual temperature to constitute as “hot yoga” can vary.
If the class is at “room temperature”, then it is not “hot yoga”. One could practice the bikram set series of postures in normal room temperature, but expect to have a much different experience with the poses and range of motion. The body will not have the same degree of expansion due to the lesser degree of body temperature. This can be a positive as you will then be needing to move more mindful into the poses as to avoid pushing through the range of motion - you will feel a greater amount of resistance which can be viewed as a good thing - putting “brakes” on the ego!
Rash? did you use your own mat or theirs? if it was their mat, there may have been some hygiene issues!!
That extented exhaustion could be a result of main factors including prolonged dehydration which messes up one’s metabolism. The exhaustion could also be related to an ungrounded energetic state - the high generation of prana without a proper “cooling phase” in the practice can leave the body and mind echoing with unsettled, unpurposeful energy.
I tried a hot flow yoga class a while back. After, I got a horrible rash that did not go away for months. You do feel energized after the workout- and at the same time exhausted. The next two days that exhausted feeling did not leave.
Hi,
Is Hot Yoga only encourage practice in high temperature room? What about normal room?
I used to practice bikram yoga in Northampton Massachusetts and enjoyed it quite a bit. It got a bit weird when the instructor started wearing a bikini, but the practice itself was enjoyable.
That is a possibility. Most Hot Yoga studios require students to have a large towel on top of the mat to absorb the perspiration.
I’m thinking that with all that sweating, wouldn’t you slip more easily?