The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Practicing at Home or Travelling? › Heart Disease
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I recently had, what is thought to be a artery clamping in my heart or mycondrial ischemia (small muscle on inside of heart deprived of oxygen..in other words some kind of a heart attack. I had been going to hot yoga 4-5 times a week. Is there a risk and or a benefit to continue practicing? Thank you
wow so sorry to hear that. depending on the conditions of your studio it could be very stressfull to your heart. This could be a good or bad thing depending. I know some with heart conditions are not supposed to stress it out and others are still allowed to to strenuous exercise. I would just check with your doctor.
My sister has a heart condition that she takes meds for and is supposed to work it out baby…. yet my dad in the sauna is a NO NO ……………………………….Is your doctor recommending you get regular aerobic exercise? Has he specifically restricted your activities in some way? I would ask about heat but perhaps in a more general way so he or she can relate to it. Would it be ok to push a lawn mower in the yard on a hot, sunny afternoon?
My experience is that most doctors have no concept of what Bikram or hot yoga is. My cardiologist can’t wrap his head around the idea that yoga can be aerobic. With my blood pressure and other blood work now in the ideal range and having lost about 100 pounds doing Bikram yoga, he still wants me to take a walks a few times a week.
Remember also you are always in control during your yoga class including how hard you work your heart.
Take Care,
LeeHi bix
I first want to point out that we can’t give you medical advice but I can certainly give you some important information to arm yourself with when taking what actions you end up taking! Phew. Thought that was worth telling you!
Now … the great thing about many yoga exercises is that it exercises the heart muscle not just by using it as a pump to access the entire body but it tones the heart muscles itself.
I won’t comment on how or why you had your problem. I guess we could go down the path of nutrition and hydration and electrolytes in future conversations (if you want to ‘go’ there) but let’s just take this at face value for the moment.
Lee raises some important points. Both about what your doctor recommends in general, and also about doctor’s ignorance of the importance of yoga. So ultimately your actions are your responsibility based on how you process the information.
I will say this:
Being in the hot room even without doing the yoga is in itself extra exercise for the heart.
If you haven’t been exercising in the heat for some time due to the occurrence then the first step could be to simply sit in the hot room during class and doing nothing else but breathe (and meditate!). This would be fantastic for you. It would help stress the heart positively by normal physiological processes to acclimatize to the heat. I think that for me this would be the logical first step because the stress could be more than necessary in your recovery process if you were to expect to just return back to yoga with the same intensity of exercise you had before.
If and when that feels OK then the approach could be to approach your practice in a step by step approach. Do the second set of each pose, graduate to the first set of each pose and then finally to the whole class. Of course you would only do what feels right for you.
As for the risks: There is a risk in STOPPING exercise altogether. And there is a risk in doing too much. That goes for everyone.
So bix how long did you stop the yoga for? What do you intuit would be the best course of action for you given the responses here? Would you like to delve a little more deeply down some other avenues (mentioned above)? I don’t want to presume to give you advice especially given the very small amount of information in your original post.
Please let me know. And my best wishes for an easy and satisfying recovery.
And btw: Lee that’s very impressive to lose 100 pounds! Thanks always for your contributions. I appreciate them greatly.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Anonymous
GuestAugust 31, 2010 at 4:05 amPost count: 98Hey there!
In addition to the great advice above, please don’t discount your advice of your cardiologist. Even if they don’t know what Bikram’s is or have any idea about it, they will have specific advice for you about exercise duration, intensity and environment. He/she may recommend not exercising in extreme heat or cold, and may recommend avoiding hot tubs, for example, for reasons that may relate to your overall medical and prescription history or your past cardiac surgical history.
The biggest key here is that you have had a cardiac incident and personally, I would seek his or her directives about exercising strenuously for 90 minutes in the high heat and humidity of summer. That is, after all, probably the most relatable circumstance to a Bikram’s class. You really can’t discount the effects that simple heat and humidity will have on your cardiovascular system, even without adding exercise to the mix. You will absolutely need to maintain your cardiovascular fitness; the key is to do it safely.
I found this article about cardiac rehabilitation for you online:
http://www.alive.com/47a1a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=94
It may or may not be appropriate since we really don’t know your full medical/cardiac history. Nonetheless, the guidelines about cardiac rehab after a cardiac incident are pretty well laid out.Better safe than sorry?
JMHO,
Freia
Hi
Freia, that’s my point exactly: The effect of heat on the heart is a load in itself. So exercising on top of that is an extra load. Thanks for bringing your voice of reason to the table (again!). 😉
At this stage we really do need to wait to hear from bix.
We can all give all our hypotheses (me included) but ultimately bix needs to give us more information. We don’t know if a cardio or a GP was seen, when it happened, what happened, what brought it on, and so many other questions that we can only speculate about.
So bix, it’s over to you
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Hi y’all
Just letting everyone know that bix has sent me a private message. Bix, feel free to post that (copy and paste) if you feel you want to and if you feel it’s not too personal. I just wanted to close the loop so that it didn’t just end up in the air.
I will respond later, giving a little time to post if you wish!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂🙂 Thanks, please let me know how to post my reply that I have already sent, Thanks, Bix
Thank you sooooo much for taking your time to write. I have your book and
videos which I have found quite useful. I had my heart incident on the 17th
of August and went to a hot yoga class today. I let the instructors know
what happened and that i would be pacing myself, which i did. I have a
stress test and appointment with my cardiologist on the 23rd to find out
what actually happened and his recommendations. Currently I am planning on
pacing myself with 3 classes a week until my appointment to find out more. I
am interested in your advice regarding nutrition and electrolytes and
anything else to support my hot yoga practice.I am definitely into it, the
folks around me are concerned and critical thinking it is too much for me. I
will be watchful of not overdoing it. Thank you again for taking your
valuable time. BixGuestSeptember 1, 2010 at 4:48 pmPost count: 98Hi there!
I’m totally sending positive thoughts to you for your upcoming cardiologist appointment. And good for you for taking care of yourself during this stressful time. Don’t worry about the critics — there are alot of generally-held thoughts about cardiac conditions and exercise which just don’t hold true. Years ago, if one had a cardiac incident, they were told to pretty much stay in bed! Today, cardiac rehab and fitness is a must after any such incident. I know we are all glad that you are getting the care and specialist input that you need to keep healthy and fit.Freia
Hey there!
In addition to the great advice above, please don’t discount your advice of your cardiologist. Even if they don’t know what Bikram’s is or have any idea about it, they will have specific advice for you about exercise duration, intensity and environment. He/she may recommend not exercising in extreme heat or cold, and may recommend avoiding hot tubs, for example, for reasons that may relate to your overall medical and prescription history or your past cardiac surgical history.
The biggest key here is that you have had a cardiac incident and personally, I would seek his or her directives about exercising strenuously for 90 minutes in the high heat and humidity of summer. That is, after all, probably the most relatable circumstance to a Bikram’s class. You really can’t discount the effects that simple heat and humidity will have on your cardiovascular system, even without adding exercise to the mix. You will absolutely need to maintain your cardiovascular fitness; the key is to do it safely.
I found this article about cardiac rehabilitation for you online:
http://www.alive.com/47a1a2.php?subject_bread_cramb=94
It may or may not be appropriate since we really don’t know your full medical/cardiac history. Nonetheless, the guidelines about cardiac rehab after a cardiac incident are pretty well laid out.Better safe than sorry?
JMHO,
Freia
Great and informative link.
Thanks -
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