The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › The Heat › room too hot, or am I a wimp?
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › The Heat › room too hot, or am I a wimp?
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I have two questions. First, I think the room in our studio is too hot. I have a big belly that gets in my way, but I do my best and hope I can work it off. When I first went to Hot Yoga, I had to do savasana at least twice during the first set, then maybe twice again during the second set. Meaning I skipped a pose or two both standing and on the floor. Through going every other day I got to where I was making small, noticeable gains every day. While I was doing only the first part of some poses, I was doing all eposes and feeling great when I left the room. Lately, I am doing worse than when I first started. I can’t get through the class without sitting out more than when I first started. I am noticing 2, 3, and sometimes 4 people leave the room during class. I think it is too hot. Today it was 109 in the room. Someone in the locker room said it was 112 F last week. I thought it was supposed to be 105.
The owner has a number of regular instructors, and he is not always there. The rumor is that it is cooler in the morning but that the instructors just turn the heat on and no one checks it. Am I just complaining? Is it normal for me to lose this much ground? I don’t want to go anymore. I went this afternoon and I’m still a wreck. I am dreading my next class. Any help you can offer would be great.
For me, rooms can be too hot. Also, for me, my belly often restricts my breathing in many of the compression poses, which in turn seems to reduce my capacity for tolerating heat. I tend to back off a bit on the compression poses so I can focus more on my breathing. Finding the cooler corner of the room, if there is one, can provide some relief. I think perhaps some of my/your difficulties are caused by losing focus. Keeping a positive attitude and staying in control gets me through even if I have to sit thru a standing posture set or two on occasion.
yes the rooms CAN be too hot for sure. They REALLY should not be above around the 100 mark. talk to the owner(s) and to others who come if the majority speaks up they will have to listen. It also will feel hotter the more humid in the room. and that plays a HUGE role too. may be why your feeling it now as opposed to when you first started. (The season and weather is changing 😉 )
keep calm and focus only on your breathe. back off in the poses to accomplish this if and when needed and good luck.The rooms can definitely get too hot.
It is often very humid here, and the instructors can have a hard time controlling the humidity. I also think that there are some instructors who just crank the heat as high as possible to provide more challenge. For awhile, I saw the heat portion of the class as the big “challenge” to get through. However, I have found that when the heat is around 105 rather than 115 in the room, I am able to focus much more productively on the poses. That said, if it isn’t warm enough, the class seems too easy.
I have gained enough experience to gauge when the room is going to be hotter–level of heat and humidity outside, number of people attending class, who is the instructor (is she one who likes it hot?), time of day, how does the room feel when I first enter. I usually pick my spot in the class once I have evaluated the situation.
It sounds like there are other people in your classes who feel that the room temperature is higher than it should be. It couldn’t hurt to speak with an instructor or the owner about your concerns. In the meantime, if you studio is like mine, morning classes next to the outer wall will provide the coolest environment. I also agree with Fraseram–it is a good idea to focus on your breathing and stay calm. Try to not let the heat itself overwhelm you.
Good luck!
I have gained enough experience to gauge when the room is going to be hotter—level of heat and humidity outside, number of people attending class, who is the instructor (is she one who likes it hot?), time of day, how does the room feel when I first enter. I usually pick my spot in the class once I have evaluated the situation.
Well said yogalifer.
There is an algorithm that works for the heat/humidity. If it is dry ie less than 30% humidity, most regulars could practice in a 110F/43C room without feeling it – in fact at 101F/38F it would feel too cold!
But if the measured room temp is 98.6F/37C and the humidity is over 65-70% – it should feel great!
Now let’s add people and sweat levels – for example if there are a lot more men in the room than normal, for some reason they give out more radiant heat (radiant heat = a person giving off heat to keep their core temp down) AND they can sweat more, which means more relative humidity … then our own sense of how hot it feels will change – no matter what the thermometer says (due to your own body working harder to keep YOUR core temp regulated – see this excellent article by Lesley Funk: http://www.bikram-yoga-noosa-australia.com/hot-yoga-facts.htm)
A wise instructor not only keeps an eye on the prevailing temp in the room (and how this is accurately measured itself is a huge conversation!) and the relative humidity – but also notices the amount of puffing/red faces – especially with those “regulars” that normally tolerate it. Our studio is in a very humid climate for summer & v dry in winter so it is amazing how room management can change. In summer we can actually turn heaters OFF and open a window/door and still be dripping with sweat and red-faced.
In our experience, an instructor’s personal temperature regulation is running far less hard than the students (common sense really since they’re not the ones doing the cardio!) so they need to really look for outside sings rather than how THEY feel about the heat.
Frankly, any yoga student paying for classes is a customer – and as a customer you certainly should feel OK about raising any issues with your studio owner and how you could work together to help you accommodate your needs along with everyone else.
As for “turning it up high so everyone has a challenge to face” … don’t make me go there. It’s certainly not how we operate 😆
Robert
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