When the summer heat waves arrive in Michigan, most of us instinctively reach for the air conditioning. And while A/C is a nice creature comfort, we overuse it. To our physiological and ecological detriment.
The thought of going into a hot room to actually handle the heat doesn’t make sense at first. The usual thought response is:
“No way, it’s hot enough already!”
“Why would I choose to sweat more?”
Furthermore, since the more “mainstream” hot yoga classes in North America have become more movement based, I can understand why many non-bikram-lineage hot yoga studios are turning down their heat.
But there is some important physiological understanding behind our traditional method, that you deserve to know!
How Does the Original Hot (Bikram) Yoga Help You Beat the Heat and Save the Earth?
Many of you reading this know from experience that an Original Hot Yoga class during the hottest, most humid streaks of summer is the best thing you can do.
But many have not experienced it. So I thought I would share some facts about how the Original Hot (Bikram) Yoga works with a few aspects of your physiology and temperature regulation.
Keep in Mind: The Original Hot Yoga is a Recipe
One of the most important things to understand is that the Bikram Yoga method is a fully developed recipe. It is always a combination of ingredients – environmental, mental, interpersonal & social, physiological, etc. – that produce the side effects of this yoga practice. Taking one of the ingredients in isolation – and then trying to market it! – is a common mistake in a non-holistic economic system.
Think of a croissant. You must have the butter. You must have the flour. And you must roll and layer that dough in a very specific way.
So you will see a lot of heated yoga classes around the country that have taken one of two of the ingredients from a yoga tradition and tuned it to people’s / popular demand. This creates a very different practice and a different outcome. Like a bagel instead of a croissant. 😉
How The Original Hot Yoga Helps You Beat the Heat
Here is an ingredient list – just like you’d want to find on something you are going to purchase from the grocery store and consume. All of these ingredients are absolutely necessary in order to get the desired outcome.
- The environmental ingredient is the heated, humidified room condition in a Bikram method yoga class. This immediately triggers your natural cooling mechanisms (i.e. the sweat response) to function on a regular basis.
- Just as important as the environment is the neuro-physiological ingredient: Smooth, even-counted, nose-only breathing. We do our best to practice “breathing always normal” for 95% of the Bikram Yoga class (at all times except for the two breathing exercises and the yoga sit-ups). This breathing technique supports the autonomic nervous system in its calming, cooling functions. (It also balances energy in the body, reduces panic attacks & anxiety, and helps tense muscles relax.)
- Ingredient Number Three: The forcing of hydration. I will be so bold to guess that around 90% of American bodies are under-watered, over-sugared, over-salted, over-air-conditioned, nervous-system-deregulated…and, for the most part, non-heat-tolerant. If you practice this yoga for even 4 days in a row – or 4 days within one week – you will immediately start to change that equation. You will be lovingly forced to hydrate with pure water, among all of the other benefits.
- The stillness held in every single posture is as crucial to the recipe as butter is to the croissant. The prescribed stillness in the postures is absolutely central to balancing and strengthening the cardiovascular system. We need to keep in mind that our cardio-vascular system includes the heart, the major blood vessels, the tiny capillaries, lymph, and interstitial (“between the spaces”) fluids. As all practitioners know, we create the tourniquet effect with the “postures holding stillness”, and then a 20-30 second hold in complete stillness & relaxation after each posture. When we do this, we unblock movements of the interstitial fluids and force better overall circulation in the whole system. This includes sweat, circulation of lymph, and return of fluids from the legs to the chest cavity.
In my particular case, the issues I have historically struggled with – in terms of hot, humid summer days – are 1) challenges to my breathing, 2) general fatigue, 3) water retention in my lower legs, 4) difficulty sleeping, and 5) perceived increase in seasonal allergies. You probably won’t be surprised to know that all five of these issues are reduced by about 90%, as long as I practice 3-4 days per week through the summer.
How does your Original Hot Yoga practice help you with heat tolerance? Leave me a comment or get in touch!
How The Original Hot Yoga Helps You Save the Earth
How can Bikram Yoga help with this? Given the above shifts in physiology that happen with the original hot yoga practice, you will find yourself very quickly wanting or needing less of the following:
- processed foods
- sugar
- meat & dairy
- air-conditioning
All of the which are very high-intensity in terms of our carbon footprint. Most regular practitioners (i.e. 4+ days-a-week practice) find themselves craving more healthy foods that are full of phytonutrients.
Although I do consume some animal products, including butter everyday – and even a very occasional Costco hotdog if I am extremely hungry! – my body feels naturally best if 90% of what it is consuming (by calories) is whole foods that are plant-based and unprocessed.
Most regular practitioners feel comfortable with their air-conditioning set to around 80 degrees F on hot summer days, rather than the usual low 70s. If I have any HVAC math-oriented people among my readers – or if any of you know someone – I’d love to know what effect that has on energy consumption.
Well it is time for me to get to the yoga school so we can practice together. I am so excited to see you in the hot room or on Zoom!!
Get in touch with us using the form below, if you have any questions about getting started with this yoga practice.
Love,
Ann
