Do hot yoga practitioners have odd body temperatures?

BE WARE!!!! your thyroid and other glands regulate your temp too. In the class these glands are being “tweaked” and can have an affect. It’s all good stuff, don’t worry, you might however think about getting your thyroid and estrogen levels checked however. I n my case we had to lower my thyroid meds in half and I gained an inch on my boobs (what woman can complain) due to the changes in my body. soon I won’t need any medication!!
even if you don’t have a thyroid condition however, your gland is going into overdrive and your body may need a bit of time to adjust to the changes. during this period you MAY experience symptoms of an overactive thyroid. If you are having toubles sleeping, feeling “speedy”, elevated heart rate, tight in the chest and lungs…. try a cold compress under your throat to calm your system down. I’m out like light when I do this!!!!!

I can relate to what you’re saying TOTALY. There are so many good things that start happening and it is such a healing and beautiful practice…. however sometimes its a process to take the ‘struggle out of your practice’ as Gabrielle would say 🙂
From my experience it does sound like your body is struggling in adjusting to the heat. I would ask the studio what conditions they keep the room under. It could be too hot or it may take a bit more time for your body to adjust. Are these sypmtoms new or have you had them from day one?
you’ve been at it for a while so I was curious… if it’s new… it could be a change in your system (again a GOOD thing) the yoga puts your body chemistry into its natural state. are you pre or post menopausal?
Any way if you get to me w/ more details we can figure this out a bit more…
I understand your concern though….
I have a genetic disorder that effects my entire endocrine system so I am VERY familiar w/ how the yoga effects your body.
My DOCTOR is stunned at the good things its doing for me. He has assured me that practicing in the 100 degree heat is NOT dangerous if you take the proper precautions.(but also warned against anything above 105) then our bodies are under too much stress trying to reg our core temp
try PRE hydrating (as well as after) and having your electrolytes BEFORE rather than after and that will help 🙂

I think there is a wide variety in studio temperatures and humidities. I think few of them try to control both variables with precision. At 105F and 60% humidity, the heat index is 149F. If the studio is located in a naturally humid climate and doesn’t attempt to control the humidity, you could be practicing in an environment that is 105F and 90% humidity – a heat index of 209F !!!

This recently happened to me (105/90%). After having practicing every day for a couple of weeks under “normal” conditions, the experience of this one session wore me out to the point where I went to bed 2 hours earlier than normal because I was so exhausted. The next day, I had to take a nap in the middle of the day – something that I never usually need (when I’m practicing regularly).

During the class itself, I noticed that about 6 out of the 12 people in the class sat out both repetitions of the triangle pose – extremely odd to see that many people unable to continue that early in the class. After seeing that, I made a conscious effort to slow down, but that session really took it out of me. After class, I heard one girl say that she hadn’t sat out a pose all year until that class.

According to Bikram’s site, it’s 105F and 40% humidity which corresponds to a heat index of 121F.

Heat Index Calculator

Yes this corroborates with our hot and humid summer experiences where we found we had windows opened and MAX temp of 37C/98.6F when humidity was unavoidably high at 70-80% or higher.

Personally I don’t think it at all beneficial or healthy to go beyond that 130 or so heat index and remembering there are a ton of other variables affecting your core temp (as has been pointed out above – and taking into account radiant heat from other practitioners standing close to you; the general air flow in the room; ceiling height).

Gabrielle has an excellent report which goes into good detail about how to handle the heat: https://www.hotyogadoctor.com/images/uploads/How-Hot-Is-Hot-Yoga.pdf though not specifically discussing the heat index. She points out that 60-70% humidity is considered healthy for lung efficiency, which would mean a MAX temp of 97F.

Our ‘favorite’ environment is around 98F/60% – but like I say, so many other variables at play!

Generally if more than a couple of regulars are taking to the floor to recover during a class and everyone is severely red-faced … then something’s not right!

There IS a lag too – so simply switching heaters off if this point is reached is too late – one has to anticipate, usually well before triangle.

Of course a well designed temperature control system and a properly measured heat gradient in the room helps prevent serious over-heating … as BikHead says, few seem to be able to control this precisely.

Gabrielle had carried out some intense research on this and we had a very reliable system which did not rely on any “tricking” of the thermostat, as many do.

Here’s a good resource for any studio owners interested in temperature regulation:

http://hotyogastudiodesign.com/

Also good reading is this article by Leslie Funk – an independent fitness instructor, not a hot yoga teacher – who gave us permission to reprint this article about core temperature regulation and hydration etc.

http://www.bikram-yoga-noosa-australia.com/hot-yoga-facts.htm

Anyway, to get back to the main topic that started this thread – what each and every person does to regulate their core temp will vary, as will the perception of “how hot it is”. The heat index is a useful basis for setting some norms to compare to so thanks for posting the links!

By the way, the “recommended” temps link above says “minimum 105F” but doesn’t take into account the effect higher humidity has on the body’s ability to regulate temperature. If the temp is really 105F (and it could easily be higher, don’t trust what the thermostat or thermometer says) and humidity climbs higher than 40%, it would be advisable to monitor students and look to gradually reduce temp to maintain that heat index.

Good discussions!

Cheers,

Robert

After 12 months of nearly daily Bikram practice, I have noticed two ways that my body seems to react differently to temperatures outside the hot room – and I want to see if others have had similar experiences.

The first seems to be good – I have become very efficient at sweating and cooling down when I am exercising. In spin class where we work to our target heart rates for 60 minutes, my shirt is soaked is sweat to the point where I start to get chilled – when others are asking for more AC. So I guess it’s good that I am now efficiently cooling.

I live in the cold north of Chicago and this winter for the first time I have noticed that I seem to be more susceptible to cold temperatures. Even when I am dressed warmly in hat, coat and gloves, I get cold more easily in the freezing temperatures. And weirdly, blood circulation to my fingers and toes seems to shut down – so that they turn white and numb. And then it will take 20 minutes or more once I am inside for the circulation to return and the numbness to go away. Could my hot Yoga be contributing to that? I never experienced this until this winter.

Anyone else notice similar changes?

i have also noticed that i sweat a LOT more than i used to doing other forms of exercise – i am a triathlete, so am not unused to hot, sweaty forms of exercise, but the last few times i have run i have noticed that i sweat as i do in yoga, and not as i normally do in exercise.

by this i mean that the ‘yoga sweat’ gushes off me like running water, and normal exercise sweat kind of oozes out rather than gushes. On my last run yesterday morning i was gushing quite early on, when the two girls i was running with were both just a little bit warm and not noticeably sweating.

i have noticed this before and was also wondering whether my body now starts shrieking at the first sign of heat as a defence of what it thinks is to come!