Health Benefits And Risks Of Hot Yoga

Since the 1970s, yoga, a form of low-impact exercise that combines elements of physical strength and spiritual exploration, has become wildly popular in the United States. One form of the practice called hot yoga, challenges the participant to sustain difficult positions and meditative focus in very hot conditions. In this kind of yoga, the temperature often exceeds one hundred degrees Fahrenheit, which is believed to induce a deeper state of mental clarity as well as a host of bonus health benefits. While it certainly offers some good health benefits, hot yoga is not appropriate for everyone.

Burn More Calories

One of the benefits of hot yoga is that it provides individuals with the opportunity to burn more calories. Exercise elevates an individual's core body temperature. Skeletal muscles account for the vast majority of heat production, and hence calorie use, in the body. Doing so in torrid conditions forces the body to work twice as hard to maintain a safe internal environment. The process of self-cooling requires a higher calorie consumption, as the heart beats faster, skin produces sweat, and blood vessels dilate to shed the excess heat. All of these cellular processes are expedited at elevated temperatures, resulting in a net calorie burn much higher than the same activity at cooler temperatures. Consequently, hot yoga may have the added bonus of weight loss or simply make maintaining a healthy weight easier.

Improves Circulation

Circulation is the flow of blood throughout the body. Beginning at the heart, blood travels through the largest blood vessels and gradually flows down the tiniest of capillaries, where oxygen exchange provides bodily tissues with all of their energy requirements. Hot yoga can serve to improve an individual's circulation when the rising body temperatures cause vasodilation, a bodily adaptation that allows blood vessels to widen and stretch to adjust blood flow to surface areas, lower core temperature, or answer increased energy demand.

Improving vascular tone in this way not only helps keep distal body tissues healthy, but it also improves kidney function, reduces stress, and assists in promoting blood detoxification. Additionally, individuals with certain conditions that limit their circulation, such as Raynaud's disease or peripheral neuropathy, may see extra benefits from hot yoga.