Hot yoga, or Bikram yoga, is a more rigorous and intense style of yoga that incorporates high temperature and humidity during practice. This induces sweat and water weight loss during yoga practice, while increasing flexibility and blood circulation throughout the body.

 In addition to sweat and water weight loss, yoga can lead to dehydration, heat stroke and muscle tear. Because of this, hot yoga should be practice in moderation and with careful consideration of hydration, exertion and flexibility. When these factors are considered, hot yoga can increase flexibility and feel great. Some instructors discourage hydration during practice, but this advice should generally not be followed. Hydration during hot yoga practice is critical. It is important to bring a water bottle to hot yoga and take small sips throughout practice. After hot yoga, it is beneficial to have a drink that replenishes electrolytes in addition to water hydration because they are lost in sweat during the practice.

Individuals vary in their resistance to high temperatures. For those that are well accustomed to high temperatures, heat stroke is less of a concern during hot yoga. For those that are not well accustomed to high temperatures, self awareness is critical during hot yoga. All yogis should frequently keep track of their bodies’ response to increased heat. If you feel light headed or dizzy, take a break or exit the heated yoga practice. It is important to transition to regular practice of hot yoga gradually.

While the risk of hot yoga resides within the high temperatures, this is also the reason why the exercise can be so therapeutic and beneficial for the mind and body. Temperatures can be as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit when practicing hot yoga. Because of these high temperatures, there is an increase in flexibility and blood flow during the practice of hot yoga in comparison to conventional yoga. The heat causes muscles to relax and extend with increased blood flow. This is beneficial for yogi’s in moderation. Since it is much easier to increase muscle flexibility in hot yoga, an experienced yogi might not recognize signs that overexertion is occurring in the muscles and leading to muscle tear. To avoid this, an inexperienced yoga practitioner should not try to increase flexibility in hot yoga anymore than in their standard yoga practices. In fact, it would be best to decrease focus on flexibility during the initial hot yoga practices. For experienced hot yogis, hot yoga is an opportunity to increase flexibility where standard yoga practice could not relax muscles.

Over time, a moderate transition to hot yoga can be highly beneficial to flexibility. Hot yoga can also be a very relaxing and encouraging form of meditation. For yogis that enjoy high temperatures, hot yoga can help achieve a different level of meditation. Hot yoga increases temperature and affects blood flow, flexibility and meditation. Careful attention should be given to the experience level of the yogi when considering what aspect of the practice to pay attention to. When practiced in moderation, yoga can increase flexibility and encourage meditation.