Hot Yoga Experiences > Benefits of hot yoga
Pranayama just puts my life back in order. No matter what my mood (and it has been kind of stressed lately with the power out and the relatives moving in) two rounds of deep breathing and I am looking right into my soul, past all my problems. And the beauty part: you can take a deep breath anywhere (it always feels better in the heat and with the arm movements of Pranayama but it's still available outside the hot yoga room).
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
An overall statement of the benefits of hot yoga is: "Hot Yoga has helped me manage the stressors associated with Hurricane Sandy differently and better than I may have in the past." Hope everyone is safe, warm and looking forward to seeing everyone again in our hot yoga studio soon.
JaneC
Even though I appreciate winter for a "change" of season, beautiful snowfalls, winter sports, ice skating, holidays, and winter wardrobes...I HATE the cold. However, now I can look forward to something HOT in my life amidst this cold weather (since I'm lacking a hot tub in my place--oh that should be on my vision board!).
Laura
I think the most profound benefits I've noticed from hot yoga have to do with my hips, lower back, and knees--I think it all connects, but somehow opening the hips seems to take pressure off the knees--I'm not sure how the lower back factors in...
I do have a question, though--which poses can help with REALLY tight calves, and what should one focus on in those poses to make sure you get the benefits in that area?
Mary-Rush
Physically Hot Yoga has helped, and continues to help me work through old injuries. Mentally Hota Yoga helps me to clear my mind and find the focus I need to take on any challenges that come my way.
June Spinelli
I practice 3-5 times per week and yoga helps calm my mind. I enter the studio with my mind racing and thinking I really dont want to practice..........by the time I am done pranayama my body memory has taken over and I am in my yoga zone. It is quite magical the way that works!
As an added bonus I have the physical benefits too, longer, more flexible muscles and my back is stronger and no longer aches. I actually crave back bends now! : )
Dawn
Craving backbends is so cool - I love them too. At first the whole hanging upside-down thing is unnerving. I found that the trick is to keep lifting the breastbone up and parallel to the ceiling and it feels like someone is holding you while you hang upside down; that means you can totally relax into the backbend. It's a favorite moment for me in hot yoga.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
All types of yoga exercises are designed to reduce stress and enhance mind-body oneness. Exercising hot yoga exercises, though, is a special case of thoughts over matter. Forcing yourself outside your comfortable area is an success, and you may be surprised to discover that the upper boundaries of what your system can do under dimensions is higher than you thought.
Maitland Health Expert
I had a very deep hip injury last winter which had impacted how I walked. My stride had become shorter and less purposeful. Hot Yoga was the only form of therapy I found that got deep enough into the joint to start the healing process. A few weeks ago, as I walked across a parking lot to my car, I realized my stride was back to normal. Hot Yoga rocks!
June Spinelli
I got caught in a tree when snowboarding last year and ended up with a herniated disc in my neck. Discomfort was at times, unbearable, especially sleeping. With this neck pain, I was "forced" to learn how to do backbends correctly--lifting up from the chest, then slowly dropping the head back. I know I am doing them correct, because the neck and shoulder pain is gone. And those eagle arms in garudasana loosen my shoulders up quite nicely.
Laura
June, I had a very similar experience--hot yoga evened up my hips which, like most people's, were misaligned, with one hip higher than the other, though over the years, it had gotten more pronounced than is common through intensification of the original imbalance. My mom had told me it was just something the women in our family had to live with, and it was funny to see us walking down the street, bumping into each other with our uneven gaits from our imbalanced hips.
A few years ago, a massage therapist told me she'd never seen anything like it--after a 30-day challenge, my hips were aligned! No more crooked walk!
An avid Spinner, my mother cannot say the same--it seems to only make the problem worse.
Mary-Rush
Mary-Rush - you are a breakthrough lady in your own family. Now when you do the shimmy, it'll be by choice. A friend of mine who was a Rockette told me that all the dancers she knew needed hip replacements early on. She had one hip replaced at age 32 anticipating that the other would also be needed (so they told her)... and then she started hot yoga. The rest is history. Not only no second surgery, but she was able to move her "plastic" hip in ways they said she never would. Her husband was happy. Nuf said.
Rhonda
I have bad seasonal allergies and get sinus infections and fevers every Fall. Since hot yoga three times a week I have not been sick and we are well in to Winter!
Amy A
During the holidays, hot yoga, is a wonderful way to manage the multitude of stressors. I find that I am calmer and centered as result.
JaneC
Amy--isn't it funny! I find that if I practice regularly, my allergies all but disappear!
And Jane, you said a mouthful. I find that even off the mat, hot yoga has taught me that by breathing I can get through the most stressful and uncomfortable situations with grace and stability.
Mary-Rush
Happy New Year! What a great time to embrace the benefits of hot yoga, or try hot yoga for the first time if you haven't experienced the benefits yet!
Amy A
I've found that I am so much more in touch with my body and my emotions since beginning the practice of hot yoga. I anticipated physical changes and improved flexibility. I received so much more and am finding that practice has awakened things that have been so deeply tucked away for so long. 'Awakening' is sometimes challenging, but I am sooooo grateful for the process and look forward to what will come!
Mallory Maier
"Awakening" is a muscle like any other; it can be stiff at first once you learn to exercise it, moving it can be a joy.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Hot yoga has helped awakened the ability for me to love myself unconditionally. I haven't felt better and at peace with myself.
Laura
Awake is sometimes considered scary by people who think "awake" means to be focused on "reality" of things as they are - unwanted things that have manifested - instead of awake to your ability to create your own reality. What do you say to people who say, "Face reality!" when you tell them they created the reality they are now faced with?
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I have always had difficulty getting into Camel and I can't always reach back to grab my heels every time but I am connecting. I often wondered if my inability to go back in Camel had something to do with my life, my mindset, or just my short arms. LOL
HeatherS
Mind, beliefs, manifestations are intertwined Heather. Every physical asana is a reflection of a belief manifesting in your body. In hath at you, as you flex your body eventually you watch how it helps expand your mind or you can go the easier route: see beyond your beliefs and become limitless in your ability to do.... Anything. So my recommendation would be to remove your belief about "short arm" limitations and do camel with no expectation of limitations.
Rhonda Uretzky
You get overall body/mind benefits in every hot yoga pose - and some very specific healing benefits are attributed to specific hot yoga poses. Have you noticed any improvements in your body and life since doing hot yoga? Are there things you want to work on with hot yoga? Ask here about which pose will help you do what you need most.