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Hot Yoga…thoughts
So last night I went to a hot yoga class at Modo in LA.
Didn’t tink it was possible for the insides of my eyelids to sweat but I think they may have lol. I was literally a hot mess and so slippery that is was kinda hard to actually hold some if the poses because body parts were sliding off each other.
Can’t decide if I hated it or hated it but loved it a little too… Any hot yoga fans out there and does it ever get better?
I’m going to go back and try it again Γ°ΕΈΛβ any tips?
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18 Replies
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I was the same. It was a love-hate relationship. I’d wake up at 6:15am to go and driving there I would just think “why? I could be in bed”. During I would be struggling and just hating it. Afterwards, I felt great and would never regret it. I had more energy and just felt detoxed and fresh. I want to try aerial yoga next.
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Hot yoga is my favorite type of class! I love getting a good sweat, and I feel that I can get a deeper stretch. I will say, my biggest tip is to wear long, tight pants. It seems counterintuitive, but having pants that are at least to your calves gives better grip. It isn’t that much “hotter” since you’re gonna sweat no matter what! I found this made it much more productive. Also, I have a Manduka mat and use a yoga towel. This makes a HUGE difference, even in regular yoga classes! I will lightly spray my yoga towel with water, and I get the best grip! For hot classes, I’ll use the thicker towel, designed for hot yoga. I would venture to say it’s impossible to enjoy a hot yoga class in a regular/cheap mat with no yoga towel (you slip and slide all over!)…and the same goes for a regular yoga class, IMHO. I haven’t gone to a class in a while as I mostly practice at home (if at all lol)…but now I want to go to a hot yoga class! π
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I have done both types of yoga, both heated and non-heated. Personally, I prefer non-heated. One of the reasons is practical – I sweat a LOT when I exercise, enough where I end up with Bikram style sweat in a regular yoga class and I have to keep a fan running during my pole sessions. I slip and slide all over even when the room is only 70 degrees F.
Proponents of heated yoga claim that the high heat allows your body to stretch further because the muscles are kept very warm. This is a double-edged sword. Yes, warm muscles often can stretch further than cold muscles, and I know some very bendy hot yogis, but you may be tempted to over-stretch beyond the point where you really should be going. This can lead to ligament and tendon injury, which is not good. You can also easily slip during an asana and injure yourself if you are a sweaty beast like I am. Definitely use an anti-slip mat or towel in hot yoga classes, and know your limits. Although a lot of people wear shorts and sports bras in hot yoga, I find that skin can be really slippery when it’s soaked with sweat, and that makes things like arm balancing postures tricky. You may prefer wearing more clothing in synthetic wicking fabrics. Hot yoga is also contraindicated for people with certain health conditions, including high blood pressure and pregnancy. If you’re healthy, you’re probably fine, but just be careful. Stay healthy and safe π
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I remember when I first started hot yoga I lasted about halfway through the standing poses before I had to collapse in a pile of sweaty defeat on the ground. But by the next couple of classes I was able to stick through the entire thing and I stopped feeling dizzy or sick. But I stopped going for a while and when I went back it was hell again and I couldn’t finish the class without lying down at least once. So it definitely gets better once your body gets used to it but if you stop going regularly your body will need some adjusting time again
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i love hot yoga. if you are undecided after your first class, i suggest trying it again- if you want. π
some people love it instantly, some people love it gradually, and others just never like it. -
my tips would be: hydrate the day before and avoid booze. after class, reward yourself with a young coconut
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Katana you are in LA – where do you go/ I liked Modo.
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i did earth power here in LA!!
in new orleans, i did bikram π
but now i just do yogaworks- i’m actually training now for my certification. yogaworks has heated rooms, but i don’t believe they consider it “hot yoga”… -
Keep going if you can convince yourself to do it again. Like blondierat, I really hated it during the class but felt so great after I kept coming back. Some classes I felt weaker than others, but I stopped feeling dizzy, and I learned to look forward the to laying/seated poses which made it seem less endless. I stopped because I moved away, but I might be back and back to the chamber of torture as one of the instructors called it. π I also liked the back conditioning and flexibility series and felt progress in my hamstrings, and all other positive effects on my pole dancing.
Regarding the sweating – In my classes they told us to put a towel over the mat, and that was enough for me. When needed, the instructor told us to wipe our hands or place the towel over the feet when grabbing them in one pose.
A tip my pole instructor gave me – she likes to prepare iced lemonade drink to take with her into the class when she does hot yoga.
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I bailed tonight lol but I am planning on trying to go back tomorrow and give it another go! Will drink lots of water all day, eat – but lightly and wear leggings instead of shorts as someone mentioned above – I think that will help. I bought a 1 month unlimited trial so I might as well get my money’s worth. I did like the energy of the studio and the instructor was very good about giving us modifications for poses we couldn’t do. I also liked that he encouraged us to set our intentions and to honor ourselves and pause or go into child’s pose or just lay on the mat if we were overworked – stay in the room but rest if you need to etc. We shall see π
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As a massage therapist I can’t tell you how many clients I treat in recovery from hot yoga-related injuries. The heat allows for greater stretching of tissues than they should be allowed to stretch, and of course slipping on sweaty mats also does damage. Bikram in particular has a dogmatic approach that in my view contradicts the gentle, receptive, yin-focus yoga is supposed to engender, and in fact has a violent and antagonistic regard for an individual body’s limitations. None of my personal objections matter if a person enjoys this kind of yoga and engages in it carefully, and I applaud whatever anyone likes. That said, when clients ask me about it, I honestly explain my concerns and hopefully help prevent injury, via awareness, should they pursue this practice. As an aside, I also do not practice Thai yoga massage, which is a recognized and valued therapeutic modality, because only a small segment of the population has joints that can tolerate it safely. The main thing to be aware of is one’s ego, which overrules the sense of what our bodies can or cannot do at any specific time. To me, the very fact of hating doing something just for the sake of feeling great once it’s done is a red flag. To me that’s ego pushing the body beyond its capacity and past its needs. Sorry for the diatribe but I just hate to see those injuries sustained from what should be a practice that loves and honors the body rather than defies it.
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I tried Bikram yoga few times and liked it very much but my heart seems not to support it well, even though I had some rest in between the poses…. at the end I gave up with saddness…
In relation with this, last May, I’ve met Laurence Hilsum at the Belgium Pole Championship (she was part of the jury) and I asked her some tips about getting the splits. She recommended me having Bikram yoga 2-3 days in a raw and then rest.
Unfortunately I could not pursue and verify if this works but I assume so, as after the Bikram yoga sessions, I was feeling much more flexible and light…
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Just FYI, I have seen significant gains in my splits this year from a consistent vinyasa yoga practice. It’s doing yoga that helps, not specifically the heat. So if you don’t like hot yoga (and some people just don’t) then non-heated yoga is great too!
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I love the hot yoga classes I go to! Moreso in the winter than the summer for obvious reasons, but I find that when I keep going in the summer my body tolerates the heat of summer a lot easier. With a towel I haven’t had problems slipping. At my first class the humidity was a little hard to tolerate but my body quickly acclimated. I think you can get most of the same benefits from unheated yoga if the heat makes you dread it though. The things I like about the heat are: the detox from increased sweating (I think that’s what makes me feel so amazing afterward and it’s hard to get a deep sweat sometimes in the winter just jogging outside in the cold), the warmth helps with flexibility (as long as you understand the risk and avoid stretching too deeply you’ll be ok) and lastly, i just love walking into that hot humid room in the wintertime. There’s just something so comforting about it for me, like going into a safe womb. I’ve found yoga practice in general helps cut down on injuries from everything else I like to do (pole, jogging, hiking) so if the heat is intolerable consider practicing yoga un-heated.
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Hi Verucablue,
I practice Bikram Yoga everyday but not hot yoga. It takes at least 3 tries to figure out if something is for you or not. I would say go back and just concentrate on breathing. That is the hardest thing to learn but the single most important thing because the postures are what they are and they come easily once you have learned to breathe.
It will make your skin really nice. You will definitely see it. Drink plenty of water during the day because that will help you more than drinking during class. You need to be hydrated before class. Don’t compare. Just don’t compare. I have been doing Bikram Yoga for 7 years and a lot of people think that I was born this flexy and strong person. I tell them my story and tell them that this yoga saved me. Hot yoga will help you with your flexibility for pole also. It goes hand in hand. It’s easier to stretch yourself in heat and not get hurt than in mild temperature.
One last thing, just listen to your body. It will tell you if something is too much when you are in class. Be compassionate with yourself but give yourself the opportunity to explore what you are capable of doing.
GO BACK TO CLASS! GO BACK TO CLASS!
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