16.11.2021
Benefits of Hot Yoga
Endurance, blood flow, circulation, breathing
The physical demands of Hot Yoga help strengthen your heart and circulation. Your respiratory system gets a workout and your blood flow is stimulated. Deep breathing increases lung capacity and the performance of your respiratory system. At the same time, deep breathing is relaxing and releases emotional pressure. Circulation and all the muscles in your body are activated, so deep breathing also works as a warm-up. “Prana” means life energy, “Ayama” roughly means to control or to extend.
Equilibrium & balance
The various standing postures help improve your balance and your sense of equilibrium. Balancing postures in yoga have positive effects on your physical and mental health. For the body, they help us align and stand up properly. They also strengthen and stretch our muscles and improve our balance, as we are constantly working to find our centre of gravity and stay balanced. Regularly practising balancing poses can also improve the function of the body’s balance receptors. These are located in the inner ear and provide the information the body needs to stay balanced.
Skin, detox and cleansing
The heavy sweating in Hot Yoga improves blood flow to the pores of the skin and so cleanses them. Toxins and free radicals are carried from inside the body to the outside. The cleansing effect and stimulated circulation improve the look of your skin, giving you a healthy, fresh and seemingly younger complexion. Controlled breathing and targeted massage of the internal organs add further detox effects. Compressing and decompressing organs and glands helps with hormonal and organic imbalances.
It’s very important to replace the fluids and electrolytes you sweat out during practice after class. Isotonic drinks and water, along with a healthy diet, help complete the gentle detox of your body. But rest assured, not everything you sweat out is “toxins” in the detox sense:)
Excess weight & sleep quality
Hot Yoga is also an intense workout: in a 90-minute class you can burn up to 1000 kcal, depending on how hard you work and your body weight. Massaging the internal organs and stimulating the digestive system and glands have further positive effects. Yoga is said to create a better connection between body and mind through close engagement with your own body. In Hot Yoga the mirror is not only the best teacher, because it is completely neutral and clear; looking at and accepting your own reflection also contributes to a healthy self-image, because you are unique and amazing!
Strikingly, yoginis and yogis seem to sleep better:) Sleep quality is affected by several factors at once, including stress, hormonal imbalances and obesity. Although the exact mechanisms are still poorly understood, both exercise and yoga promote healthy sleep patterns.
Spine and back
Yoga keeps you healthy! Targeted exercises to strengthen your back and abdominal muscles, along with intensive stretches that make the spine equally flexible in all directions, help you prevent many lifestyle diseases. Only with well-strengthened, flexible core muscles can you hold off slipped discs, rheumatism and back pain. Practising also improves your posture and balance; postural weaknesses become conscious and easier to correct.
Self-confidence, mental resilience and general wellbeing
Yoga puts your stamina and your ambition to the test. But after your very first class you’ll feel the sense of wellbeing and happiness that comes once the work is done. The cleansed body, pride in what you’ve achieved and overcoming your own weaknesses all contribute to a significant boost in your wellbeing and self-confidence. You literally glow from within and seem to look years younger:) Hot Yoga also leads to a lasting improvement in your energy levels, especially if you tend towards depression and listlessness.
Muscles, joints, bones
Yoga works and strengthens all the muscles in your body. Yet thanks to the calm, slow exercises, your joints are not overloaded, as happens with intensive practice of many other sports (jogging, cycling etc.).
A 5-year study used DEXA (bone density scanning) to examine bone mineral density in nine female Bikram Yoga teachers (aged 30–59) who had been regularly teaching and practising Hot Yoga for more than 3 years. Those who were premenopausal at the 5-year follow-up showed a mean increase in bone density at the femoral neck, hip and lumbar spine. Those who were postmenopausal at the 5-year follow-up showed a mean decrease in bone mineral density at the femoral neck, total hip and lumbar spine. The improvement in total hip bone mineral density in the premenopausal group was significantly greater than the decrease in bone mineral density reported in the postmenopausal group.
Here you’ll find a selection of relevant studies/publications; please always check the further references too:
