Hot yoga is an ideal activity for developing flexibility and agility in a temperature-controlled environment. After discovering the benefits of hot yoga and its most popular variations, get off to a great start with our tips!
What is Hot Yoga?
There are several variations of hot yoga. What they all have in common is that they all take place in an environment heated to 30 or even 40°C, with controlled humidity. Here are the most popular hot yoga methods:
- Bikram Yoga: Perform 26 poses in 90 minutes and exceed your limits in an environment at 40.6°C with 40.3% humidity.
- Forrest Yoga: This form of hot yoga performed in a 28-30°C room involves very slow and intense movements, mostly focused on working the abdominal muscles. The heat helps to hold the poses for a long time.
- Hot Power Yoga: Chase away muscular tension with this form of yoga with open poses performed in a 35°C environment.
- TriBalance® Hot Yoga: Struggle, let go and breathe with these stimulating yoga classes that focus on breathing and the mind-body connection.
- Moksha Yoga: This hot yoga from Canada, a little more flexible and relaxed than Bikram Yoga, offers a series of poses of 3 different levels, with sessions ranging from 60 to 90 minutes in a heated room.
Why Choose Hot Yoga?
Are you already familiar with yoga and looking for new challenges? Here are 5 benefits that hot yoga can bring you:
- The heat accentuates muscular relaxation and joint flexibility: you will be more flexible than ever in demanding poses that are held over a long period of time! Mobilising the muscles when hot also reduces the risk of injury.
- Hot yoga makes you sweat and therefore helps to evacuate toxins, a bit like the sauna or hammam. It’s perfect as part of a detox and some people even include it as part of a weight loss programme.
- The body works harder at high temperatures: hot yoga puts the body to the test, but for the good of your heart as it allows better circulation of blood and oxygen. This practice could help lower blood pressure while improving muscle tone. However, be careful to seek advice from a health professional before starting if you have a heart or circulatory disorder or if you have very low blood pressure.
- Some studies show that practising hot yoga helps you to concentrate better and to fight stress with both physical and psychological benefits.
- Hot yoga is an intense experience, which will leave you feeling tired, but above all, relaxed and zen. You can quickly become addicted!
5 Tips for Starting Hot Yoga
With its distinctive atmosphere, silent and conducive to concentration, your first hot yoga session will be memorable! To get the most pleasure out of it and to prepare yourself properly, here are 5 tips to follow:
- Do not eat for 3 hours before the session.
- Hydrate well before, during and after each hot yoga session to compensate for the abundant water loss in a heated environment. You can opt for a mineral-enriched drink, for example.
- If you need to take a break during the workout, don’t leave the room to keep your body temperature high and don’t cool your muscles down suddenly.
- If you feel the need, rest between poses and drink: training in a hot and humid room can cause slight dizziness the first few times, which is completely natural. The hot yoga coach will accompany you and give you advice on how to get your bearings and persevere.
- Rest after your workout and don’t plan anything important or too physical in the hours to follow.
Like any form of yoga, hot yoga is enjoyed over time. Each session is an opportunity to improve and to discover your body and mind while enjoying the present moment. With hot yoga, everything is simply multiplied tenfold: the effects, the sensations, but also the benefits!
Check out our Health & Fitness page for more advice.