Hot Yoga: Why It's a Favourite Practice in the Fitness World

Hot yoga, also known as heated yoga or Bikram Yoga, is no passing fad. Although yoga has been practised for over a thousand years, hot yoga is a recent development with a bigger impact on people's health today. Hot yoga involves being confined in a room heated to about 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit for about 60 minutes. This type of yoga is a not just a flowing style practice, but it's also an exercise with much more fluid movement. The mental and physical benefits of hot yoga can't be underestimated. So what makes hot yoga a favourite practice in the fitness world today? Read on to learn more!

It Effectively Detoxifies Your Body

The profuse sweat that pours off of your body when taking that fast-paced, hot yoga contains a lot of chemicals, toxins and unwanted compounds that harm your body in many ways. The heat and higher energy demand of this exercise don't just help you to reduce water retention, but it also gives you a feeling of release. Being in a room hotter than your body temperature increases skin and internal temperatures that eventually enhance blood flow to your skin cells. The deep sweat you experience during a hot yoga session opens your pores and removes grime, dirt and the stubborn bacteria that clog your pores. That's how you get that post-yoga glow on your skin.

It's a Great Weight Loss Technique

Have you always thought that yoga is too gentle or slow for a weight loss program? Try hot yoga and see incredible results that hadn't crossed your mind! The increased heat in the room and the different poses you forcefully hold build lean muscles and cause your heart to pump more vigorously, making weight loss more effective. You can burn up to 460 calories within a single 90-minute session. The various poses involved in hot yoga improve the health and functionality of your endocrine and digestive systems and eventually boost your metabolic rate.

It Boosts Your Mood

Hot yoga ignites the internal fire you need to stimulate passion and release stagnant energy. You greatly boost endorphins in your brain when you sweat profusely. Hot yoga leaves you feeling more relaxed, calm and open since it stimulates your brain to release endorphins, which provide natural pain relief that your body needs. Hot yoga provides a body-mind connection, and it's a great practice for anyone who wants to break a serious sweat and feel younger.

Aren't these reasons good enough to get you back to the mat? Yes, they are! If you haven't tried hot yoga so far, it's not too late to start and discover what you have missed all this time. It's a great exercise for individuals with a pre-existing heart condition, those with low or high blood pressure, those prone to stroke and pregnant women. Hot yoga will help you fight adverse reactions such as nausea, dizziness, skin irritations and breakouts.