What is Hot Yoga
Hot yoga is a yoga form that is practiced under very warm and humid conditions. The only thing that differentiates it from the standard yoga practice is the heat that can vary with different forms between 80°-105° Fahrenheit (27-40 °C) approximately. Various forms of hot yoga deal with different temperatures, percentages of humidity, postures, sequences, and time span of the sessions.
With a high temperature, hot yoga results in excessive sweating. As stated by hot yoga instructors, the high temperature and humidity are an attempt to resemble the ambiance and environment of the land of origin of yoga, i.e., India, where yoga originated some 5,000 years ago.
Benefits of Hot Yoga
- – Spiritual and Physical Strength: Hot yoga increases spiritual and physical strength. It keeps your mind peaceful and purges your spiritual self and your body. Regular hot yoga practice will strengthen your immune system to fight several kinds of infection. It can even improve your skin tone due to improved blood circulation to your skin cells and excessive sweating.
- – Cardiovascular and Lung Health: Practicing hot yoga in hot conditions leads to an increase in the heart rate. It makes your body work harder than usual, enhancing cardiovascular health. Furthermore, the breathing exercises in hot yoga classes will also improve your lung health.
- – Reducing Stress and Depression: Various studies conclude that regularly practicing hot yoga can reduce signs of stress, depression, and anxiety. Moreover, it will also help lower physical inertia.
- – Flexibility and Weight Loss: The excessive heat in hot yoga increases the flexibility of the muscles, thereby enabling you to perform the stretching exercises to greater extents compared to the standard yoga form. As a result, your body burns more calories. Subsequently, it leads you to more significant and faster weight loss than other yoga forms.
Types of Hot Yoga
Although there are a plethora of hot yoga types, we will be discussing only the two most popular ones:
Bikram Yoga
The most distinctive hot yoga form is Bikram Yoga, devised by the Indian-American yogi Bikram Choudhury. In this extreme hot yoga form, the studio temperature is maintained at around 105° Fahrenheit (40° C) with a humidity of 40%.
Each session of a Bikram yoga class can last for approximately 90 minutes. Bikram yoga takes inspiration from traditional hatha yoga that involves 26 asanas and a couple of breathing exercises.
As claimed by the proponents of Bikram yoga, the hot environment prepares the body for stretching workouts by making it more flexible for the movements. Moreover, excessive sweating helps in removing the impurities from the body.
Vinyasa Yoga
Vinyasa Yoga, devised by Baron Baptiste, is another unique hot yoga form. Here, the studio temperature is usually maintained at around 95-98 °F, which is lower than Bikram Yoga’s. Unlike Bikram Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga involves multiple poses that the participants keep hopping to and from under the guidance of a trained expert.
Hot Yoga and Safety Measures
Since hot yoga is practiced under hot conditions, people with specific issues need to be careful or seek medical advice before getting started with such classes. Issues like pregnancy, heart diseases, heat intolerance, etc., fall into this category.
Besides, profusely sweating during hot yoga practice can lead to dehydration. So, it’s necessary to drink sufficient water before, during, and after your hot yoga sessions.
Hot Yoga Classes in UAE
Many yoga studios in the UAE offer different kinds of hot yoga practices, including Bikram yoga. You can enroll in any of the following hot yoga classes based on your location and preferences. Make sure you gauge the adeptness and experience of the hot yoga instructor before joining a class, as hot yoga needs to be performed under experienced supervision.
