Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi Tina

I’m with you. I don’t like or condone skimpy yoga clothing (for a number of important reasons not for this post today). Yeah, go ahead, call me a prude. It’s just my personal preference. I do appreciate what you’re saying about your self-image and growing self-love. Great noticing.

I don’t like tiny shorts. I also like the mid-thigh bike shorts (and capris and 7/8 pants). Let me ask you: Are the halters you have just a loop around the neck? I tried simple halters before and I don’t like the way they pull my neck forward. So if it’s a halter for me it has to have a back strap that pulls the loop down and back away from the neck (behind me!). Does that make sense?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Spring

If you’d like a sounding board (with no barrows being pushed) then we can have a Skype conversation. Let me know

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Sonia

Great stuff! OK, work on the foot position. That absolutely transformed my feet and my posture. It certainly awakens the foot and teaches you to use the muscles correctly. See if you can ‘lift up through the ankle’ when you’re out of yoga classes too. (Remember the walking on tip toes story too!)

Report back in a week or so (or whenever you have some distinctions or indeed questions for us!)

The other thing that occurs to me is the over use of your heel in walking or dancing. Perhaps there’s too much heel strike. What say you? 😛

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Stacie

It’s great to read all the supportive comments! To answer your first question: 3 times is not enough. 4 times minimum is what you must work towards (IMHO) and do 5 – 6 per week (no pressure! 😆 ). And always, ALWAYS take a day off every week. If you find yourself being too sore or dizzy or nauseous you probably need a day of recovery (or even 2). That usually happens when you don’t take enough water, or electrolytes or if the room is too hot.

If you find yourself being too tired and unable to keep your eyes open then try classes at different times of the day and see the effect.

So – and this is repeating other advice above – LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!!!

And go 4 times minimum. If you do 5 times per week then you won’t need to supplement with any exercise. And if you are supplementing, for a little while (2 months) just go for a walk (where you walk with a pace and alternate that with leisurely walking). Give the yoga a chance to work on your body and your mind and you’ll find the extra ellbees slide off you

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Lee

Have any of the responses been useful for you? I would really like to know. My gut feel is, that if you already have plenty of experience in a hot room (and it’s not clear how much you have from your post) and your physiology is acclimatized then you should have minimum issues in the room.

Of course we have no idea of your stress levels. It could be that the room was too hot that you had some heat exhaustion. Dizziness and nausea are 2 signs to REST and recover. Others are right here to suggest you pay close attention to hydration. BUT hydration does not work alone. You also have to make sure you have the right electrolyte balance (either through food or supplementation or both).

The other thing is that your breathing technique could be working against you. I would need more information. I think it’s least likely to be that because of your yoga experience.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi CassieLee

Yep, do the hot yoga! I am sure that MANY others can tell you that legs and butts become smoother and dimples disappear with regular and frequent practice! The toning that occurs can be rather remarkable.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Stephen

The details were great. And I was awake the entire post! 😆

I believe that yoga will help your knee for sure. Tell me if you decide to go back and what style and perhaps I can give you some pointers.

I don’t have enough info about your blood pressure. Is it managed by your diet and or by any medication?

Blood pressure is by default an issue with your heart. The heart is the pump that helps to regulate the flow, the strength of each drop that passes through to distribute the fluids (and nutrients) to the body. So therefore your heart has a lot to do with the pressure. It’s a complex system that many other systems dovetail into. Another MAJOR system that’s closely connected is your renal (kidney) system.

So, guess what? Yoga helps you tone and optimise your bodily systems. Now, of course you know I cannot prescribe anything to you but I can certainly offer you anecdotal info (I can’t take the place of your doctor, but you can do your research and find much yoga-supportive information).

Hot yoga has been known to improve blood pressure. Actually being in the hot room has many great cardiovascular benefits. In fact exercising in the heat improves cardiac output and stroke volume (efficiency of the pump).

What do you think you’ll do? And remember to tell me about your blood pressure!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Cyberry

It’s lovely to hear from you – even though the reason of your posting is more a distress call.

>> Firstly, have you had the results of your blood test?
>> Can you tell me what your blood pressure readings are?

If you put the possible health issues aside the despondency is obviously a disturbing part of the experience. I frankly don’t agree that you should have to just ‘suck up’ the poor instruction and just be expected to find that spark in your practice.

It is the responsibility of the teacher to … umm … TEACH, which means attending to the different levels in the class and presenting distinctions to the students that happen to be there. That scripted approach does not work. You are proof of that.

Be that as it may, if going to that studio is your only choice and you WANT to keep going (or at least find the passion again) then you have to find a way to move past ‘the stories’ in your head about what’s happening to you, the reasons why you feel this way, your theories about the Fe and the BP, the struggle, the expectations about how you should be performing in class, your expectations about what others ‘must be thinking’ and how that is affecting you, and the stuff about taking time off.

It’s true that the thinking mind does get in the way. With a good practice the fulfillment comes from somehow managing to get past the thinking mind. That seems to be one of the greatest benefits of hot yoga. Somehow you’ve lately been bypassing this biggie. A book I just read called “The Happiness Trap” recommends some very simple techniques that you could use here too. EG: “Oh, I notice I am having that thought about … ” Fill in the blanks.

Anyway, I am sure there’s more to it than all this. Can you give me more idea about the BP and blood situation? And any other thoughts you’re having about it all.

Is practising at home an option for you? It can be extremely fulfilling to do that if you have a space and can heat. Let me know!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Rich

Welcome to the forum! And thanks for all the details. It will certainly help us get you on your way.

It is impossible to say what your technique is like and if it’s causing the problems. You could be doing what you’re told and still it could be an issue. So it could take us a little while to start to break this all down.

I would like to advise taking a look at some of the other threads regarding pose technique to start to see whether what I suggest is something that you’re either already doing (regarding proper technique) and if the ideas resonate with you.

In particular I would be asking you to start letting go of the tension in your neck and shoulders. There is a LOT of material about this on the forum, there is a TON of it in my Hot Yoga MasterClass manual too (complete with photos of how things look when you’re NOT doing the right thing for your body – this is arguably the most valuable part of the book).

It’s particularly important for you to work this issue out with your neck. But I know you know that! 😉

>>> It would be very handy to know if your teachers tell you to straighten your arms to the sides of your head and glue them there. Can you tell me if you do that please?

>>> You are right! A doctor would say ‘if it hurts, then don’t do it’. That is pretty sage advice. It does depend on the extent of the hurt. It’s important to know that discomfort and PAIN are different. It seems you are in pain and you have numbness/tingling that should not be there for sustained periods if at all. So thanks for coming to the forum. We’ll work this out.

>>> Muscling through the practice is a classic male energy thing to do. So next class see what you can do to surrender to the calm that I know you have inside of you! Be less rigid and more fluid. That links quite directly to the clamping of the arms to the side of the head. Now just to be clear here: It is possible to have straight arms and have them close to the head. BUT I am pretty sure you’re not ready for that quite yet. So read some posts on shoulders, half moon, muscling through the practice, standing sep leg head to knee and you should be on your way.

>>> Oh, lastly, read the post called: Opening Up Your Hamstrings With Hot Yoga for some ideas about the lower half of your body.

See you back here with some responses I hope!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Susannah

OK! So it seems that half pigeon could be a worry for some. What does your physio say? Look, it is a pretty extreme position for the hip and there are other ways to get hip stretches.

One way with pigeon is not letting the bended leg foot cross the midline. You can simply keep the foot right back near the hip. You may need to recruit the hands on the floor more for support in order to keep a symmetrical hip position.

There are plenty of poses where feet shift from position unconsciously and contribute to a more turned out leg and hip. In standing poses you may want to work on good alignment and strengthening of the hips. Find out what your physio suggests. I would be interested to know what is prescribed for you.

There are simple hip openers that rely on gravity rather than muscular facilitation or weighting the hip in the stretch. Those may be more advised for you than ‘forcing’ the issue in something like half pigeon.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Sweatheart

Maybe I am delving deeper than I needed to. And yes that’s kind of what I am saying… (see later)

I have only the signs of your written word. There seem to be a few messages within your posts that could indicate that there is an issue with doing the yoga in the hot room which could have something to do with breathing technique or the physical environment and even to do with how your mind handles it:

“clarity of my mind, focused and calm perception of my surroundings and steady engagement with the postures.”

“But when the class starts and deep breathing is going on, I start losing my grounded feeling and the shakiness creeps in.”

Then there are comments about what the instructors say that you don’t subscribe to or put any faith in. It seems to be about having fresh air. And about WHAT was being said.

“The trouble for me has started when I noticed certain contradictions with what being said and what is being really done.”

Then: “I am going to believe whatever is said by professionals and when I realize that they chose to say something that is not entirely true, [strong]I have a problem with that and extract myself from these settings.[/strong]”

[An aside: extract could have been used to mean “I go on autopilot” or I no longer go to that class. I wasn’t sure and should have asked.]

So I am trying to indicate (obviously not to my usual standards of clarity! 😉 ) that you are the gatekeeper. You choose what to pay attention to. And your intuition has to be involved. Your instructor may spout pseudoscience but you don’t have to pay attention to it, but you can use it as a powerful tool to create curiosity and learning rather than dismiss it. You can use it to confirm the good stuff that you DO know. You can still go to those classes if you love the yoga.

That’s all!!! 😛

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Cody

I don’t think it’s mindlessness! It’s more a sense of heightened awareness and sensitivity to your sensations.

Before we get analytical – cos that’s possible :cheese: – can you tell me in what position on the floor do you find yourself when unable to keep your focus and when your mind seems to be overrun with thoughts of heat, stress and escape?

Is it just when you’re on your back or is it when you’re on the floor for all your poses? See if you can fill me in on some more specifics that occur to you!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Please do Julia,

I am sure it is something that in some way or another many of us are working on – to separate our identity from the voices in the head and the thoughts that don’t serve us.

I will look out for your progress with great eagerness. Oh, and continue to work on that myself! Curiosity and detachment, responsiveness and peace.

Namaste
Gabrielle