Hot, Warm or Cold yoga? What's for me?
Author: Jayne Sieverding
Your body goes through physical changes to help it adjust to external temperature. We see that fact very overtly by how we shiver or sweat when in cold or warm temperatures. But how do temperatures affect our yoga practice and what temperature is best for me? We usually feel warmer temperatures encouraging our muscles and joints to soften and stretch easier. But like red wine and chocolate, can too much of a good thing be bad?
Hot yoga is a relatively new idea where students practice in a hot studio environment (85-105 degrees F) and go through a hatha or vinyasa style practice. You are encouraged to become close friends with your body’s response to the heat. Student proponents claim that they feel really refreshed afterwards; purged of impurities by the sweating. The warmth help their bodies feel suppler and eases their work through tightness. Many believe practicing the heat burns more calories to help lose weight. Purists think it mimics the temperatures in India. People who love it really love it. It makes them feel good.
But hot yoga isn’t for everyone and should not be viewed as a higher level yoga style. Although more challenging, it doesn’t necessarily mean better, it’s just a different way to practice with different effects. There is also risk for heat exhaustion. In Texas, our summers are hot yoga in the making and I’ve known many people, including myself, get very sick very quickly in the heat. When you are practicing yoga in a hot environment and start to feel ill, it can only get worse. In a class setting you also have the peer pressure to not walk out. Don’t fall victim to your ego; walk out. And please avoid hot yoga if you are pregnant.
So maybe the question is how hot is hot? Sweating in itself isn’t bad. Warm temperatures feel good. Many hot yoga studios understand this and cater to students who prefer different temperatures offering “no heat”, “warm” as well as “hot” classes. Personally I like a room in the mid to high 70’s F which is fairly comfortable, but you can still feel your body build heat in the standing poses, break a sweat, and then become aware of how to use that heat throughout the rest of your practice. It also is a nice temperature for Shivasana (corpse pose) so you can really relax and feel the energy in your body at the end of the practice. Also, studies have shown that the room temperature does not equate to calories burned. Yoga helps you develop and sustain a healthier metabolism and digestive system no matter what the temperature.
And how cold is cold? The practice of Yin yoga prefers colder temperatures in order to call upon our non-muscular tissues to respond to a gentle request to soften and stretch. Yin yoga was popularized in the west by Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers in the 90’s. The idea is to put your body into a specific pose and wait for several minutes for your non-muscular tissues and joints to respond. I like to think of it as slow motion plastic deformation rather than the typical elastic deformation of muscles. You are targeting your ligaments, tendons, joints and fascia. Muscles will dominate if they are warmed up and ready to go, so colder temperatures are better to get at your less elastic tissues. I frequently like to teach a Yin type pose near the beginning of the class, especially emphasizing the hips, in order to get at those deeper tissues before embarking on a typical hatha asana practice.
So what is the right temperature for you? You could start with your practice intentions. Are you looking to sweat or stretch? The answer could also be related to your personality and body type. In yoga study there are three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, with each one characterizing and describing the dominant blends of an individuals’ physical, emotional, and mental being. I’m a blend of both Pitta and Kapha, so you can have more than one. In general, there is a continuum from Vata to Pitta to Kapha that maps into a temperature continuum from cold to warm to hot. You should be able to find a quiz online to determine your dosha, but I can’t find one that won’t ask you for your email, so I’ll leave it to you to decide. Just use an online search for “dosha quiz”. It may help you understand yourself better and why you prefer one temperature over another.
Also, hot or warm yoga may work for those who worry a lot or suffer from anxiety. Moving in a continuous flow in a warm/hot environment could give your brain a release. You can’t worry about your life when you are breathing hard and sweating. Whereas slow yoga in a colder or room temperature environment may be better for someone who is comfortable internalizing, feeling their breath, and those who prefer the luxury of longer stretches and holds.
Another consideration is the season. Our bodies adjust to our environments in subtle ways and you may find that one temperature is not a year round preference. Surprisingly, hot yoga may be more enjoyable in the summers when your body is naturally adjusted to higher temperatures and a cooler temperature or even Yin yoga may be more effective in the winter.
There is no one temperature or for that matter yoga style, for everyone at any point in time, so you need to find what works best for you. But be humble and introspective. Listen to yourself. Sometimes the answer is not found where you expect it to be. Namaste.