What is Hot Yoga?

Benefits of Hot Yoga

More details of the benefits of Hot Yoga are on our Resources page, including external links to the source information.

1. Increased Flexibility

   Stretching when your muscles are warm—as you do in hot yoga—improves flexibility in your muscles and increases range of motion in your joints.

   Flexibility makes certain yoga poses easier to get into and out of, especially ones that require deep stretching. Yoga also strengthens your muscles: That same study found participants also increased the amount they could deadlift.

2. Greater Lung Capacity

   Because yoga concentrates on breathing techniques and staying mindful of your breaths, you train your ;lungs to retain more air . Taking regular, deep breaths allows more oxygen to enter your bloodstream, keeps your lungs healthy and increases your lung capacity, which naturally tends to decrease with age.

3. Better Bone Mass

   Bone density naturally decreases as people age. Over a 5-year period, perimenopausal people who practised yoga had increased bone density in their hips, lower back and neck, according to a May 2014 study in Scientific Research. The study concluded that a heated environment reduced the effects of osteoporosis for women by improving circulation, respiration and perspiration.

4. Burns Calories

   A standard yoga class can burn anywhere from 180–460 calories, depending on the intensity and duration of the class and how much you weigh. You sweat a lot more in a hot studio, which means your body must work harder to regulate your temperature and your heart must circulate more blood. That means burning more calories than you would in a traditional yoga class without heat.

5. Helps Improve Depression Symptoms

   Both yoga and meditation can help reduce symptoms from depression.

6. Regulates Blood Glucose Levels

   Those with type 2 diabetes may benefit from yoga because it helps control blood sugar levels. Researchers have demonstrated that even a short-term (8-week) yoga programme improved glucose tolerance for more mature adults who may have been carrying an extra couple of pounds.

7. Helps Manage Stress

   Yoga encourages you to turn inwards and create awareness of the outside factors that cause you stress. When you practise regularly, you'll start to understand how the breathing techniques, stillness and heat of the room help your mind relax

8. Boosts Heart Health

   Working out in a hot room is no doubt a physical challenge. Your heart, lungs and muscles work harder, thus giving your respiration, heart rate and metabolism a boost.

9. Improves Skin Health

   Increased sweat improves circulation and increases oxygen-rich blood to your skin cells, providing you with a post-yoga glow.

   Sweating from exercise can actually reverse signs of ageing from a cellular level. The positive impact means your skin can produce more collagen, better hydration and less sagging.

10. Hot Yoga and menopause

    In addition to reducing many of the troubling symptoms of menopause, such as insomnia, low mood, weight gain and generalised aches and pains, studies have also demonstrated that hot flushes to be reduced by practicing hot yoga. Whilst in the studio itself, because the blood vessels are already maximally open, ladies do not experience hot flushes, making it an ideal location to exercise with confidence.