Prolonged Nauseous Feeling in Class – HELP!

Hello Aimee,
I just want to share my experience, although you may have something else like Gabrielle is mentioning. I am ALWAYS feeling nauseous when I go to a studio, at least during the first classes. Apparently, I cannot stand the heat (in combination with the high humidity) very well and it takes me about a week to get used to the heat, I even have the feeling I never completely adapt to the heat, although that is difficult to say because I hardly (am able to) practice in studios. I normally practice at home where I practice at a temperature between 37 and 40 degrees and at a humidity of about 50-60%. I never experience any problems at home. In most studio classes the humidity (and maybe also the temperature) is higher I think. It happened a couple of times during class that I had to go out (yes, to vomit…). Now I know I shouldn’t do much during those classes and just wait until I get used to the heat, which takes ages. Especially camel pose is totally impossible during those classes. Teachers have been telling me it is something mental and that camel pose is very emotional, but I am very sure it is the heat that is causing me problems, I love doing camel pose without heat or in my own hot yoga room. Next week I will have a chance to go to a studio again and I am planning to go to the first class in the morning because generally it is a bit cooler then. I also know a studio where there is an ‘air leak’ in the door and that will be my place for a couple of days. I’ve been practicing for 2 years now and wished I could get over it, but it doesn’t seem to happen. I have to get used to the heat/humidity again every time I go back to a real studio. In case anybody knows a way to get used to the heat faster, please let me know!

Hello Gabrielle,
I practiced for about 3 weeks in a real studio (about 4-5 times a week), which was quite nice. I was very disappointed with the lack of feedback from the teachers, but that is maybe because I’m just a guest and not a regular student. There are so many people in one class that it is probably impossible to correct everybody.
I started very carefully because I really didn’t want to get that ‘overheated’ feeling and just did 1 out of the 2 poses each time. This was really difficult for me, because I knew I could do the rest but would definitely get overheated. I felt nauseous about every class at the end and that improved a bit during the 2nd week. After class, I would normally be feeling fine immediately or within maximum 1 hour. In the 3rd week things went a bit better as well (I kept on going to the cool spots), but I could still not do all the exercises During the standing series I still had to omit one of the standing sep. leg poses to get some extra cool air down on the floor. And during the floor poses I took a pause after about 4 poses (2 sets). I know the ‘symptoms’ very well now: feeling nauseous and a bit dizzy and very, very hot, my face also gets incredibly red. If I continue and ignore the symptoms (which I did once because I just wanted to do the poses),I start shivering and really feel awful and have to lie down the rest of the class.
On the positive side I think there is improvement, but I still doubt whether I will ever get used to the heat completely. I am also very happy that I started practicing at home 2 years ago after just 3 lessons in a studio, I might not have continued in a studio.
On the negative side…how will I ever be able to do a hot yoga workshop or maybe, maybe one day a teacher training, which I really would love to do?
I am back home now and so happy that I can do all the poses without the (excessive) heat stress again. I also have the feeling that I progress much faster when the temperature is lower.
I am probably an exception, but would really like to know whether you think I could ever get used to studio temperatures (and probably more important: humidity) or whether there could be people that can never get used to those temperatures/humidity completely.
And also whether there is some kind of ‘trick’ that helps me adapting faster. I try not to eat at least 2 hours before class (3 hours is nearly impossible for me) and eat not too much, my stomach is empty when I start. I drink a lot of water and look after my electrolytes well. In the studio I also tried coconut water after the classes. I am normally the first person to enter the studio, to have at least 30 minutes to get used to the heat.
I wish the experience had been more positive!

I should also mention that the studio is a real Bikram Studio and the temperatures are around 41 degrees and the humidity is very high. I am pretty sure that the humidity is above 60% because I know pretty well how 41 degrees with 60% in my own yoga room feels like (already extremely hot and sticky!!)

Thanks so much for your help,

Lisa