Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi Danielle

125 is too high! I must say however that the position of the thermometer could be oddly placed. Are you saying the heat comes out of the vents and the thermometer is directly above them? As you know heat rises so the readings may be imprecise.

With the nausea and dizziness and others noticing the room is too hot, you really do have to do something. At the very least you have to find out what the TRUE conditions are.

I don’t want to come across as demanding or pushy, or give the impression that I know better than people who have professional Bikram training. Should I say something? If so, how should I phrase it? I don’t want to stop going to this studio, but I don’t want to end each class with a headache and nausea, either!

There is no part of the training where safety in the hot room is discussed. It is simply understood that the room is heated.

Here’s a suggestion for you: Go back to the thread Is The Studio I Go To Overheating The Room? and go to Lesley Funk’s article. Read that and use that as your argument. See if others are willing to go with you and talk to the studio owner or at least lend their name for the purpose. You will have a much better chance of them looking into the problem if they see that SEVERAL regular students are suffering and are concerned about their health. The problem is that the exposure to the high heat is dangerous and even more so when it is continued exposure.

Perhaps your first port of call is to approach your studio owner (with support of other students):
>>> saying that you don’t believe that the studio conditions are optimum.
>>> Say that you are willing to be proven wrong of course because the current placement of the thermometer could be forcing an artificially high reading.
>>> Say that IF the thermometer is reading the room conditions correctly then the room is heated 20 degrees F more than is safe and healthy.
>>> Say that you and others are really concerned that you are being put at risk of overheating (quote stuff from the article).
>>> As a result, ask if he/she would be willing to move the thermometer or use others to test the temperature at different parts of the room over the next few classes each time you’re there (and test at mid height – at about chest height. A thermometer is to stay in the same place for the entire class and not moved around or carried by the teacher).

If you approach this in this way, how could you be refused? It wouldn’t be right to dismiss someone’s concerns in this way. If you do find the room is being consistently over heated then there is a huge liability problem. Couple that with the high humidity and the heat index result… need I say more? The heat would have to come down.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Elisa

Yes, I know the feeling. It is frustrating to have those extremes in class like that. I don’t mind it being cooler than normal IF I am not exposed to drafts and cool breezes. If the condition is fairly constant then everyone is much more focused.

Can you tell me if you SEE the gauge with the 110F reading? How many thermostats are in the room? Or is it just a thermometer placed somewhere that you can see? Just curious. Just thinking that it seems odd that it is hard to keep the temperature to a reasonable level! What’s stopping them from turning the heat down? Is there no thermostat in the room? It is possible they are keeping it outside the room to trick the system.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Maria

You may want to give more information about how many people you want to have in the room. The more information you give the better. Where are you? Which country will give more information about the weather conditions. Are you a teacher already? What style are you teaching?

Sometimes you are constrained by the space that you find. There really isn’t quite enough to go by at the moment.

In the Traveling and Practicing At Home section on this forum, there is a lot of information about heaters and setting up a space.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Karen

I think the issue is understanding the way heat can affect the body. There really isn’t a problem if the heat isn’t high enough because for the most part people aren’t really going to freeze! However it does help to know at what point a hot room becomes potentially dangerous.

Take a look at this thread: Is The Studio I Go To Overheating The Room? There are some links within it concerning the alchemy of heat and humidity as well as the science of heat exhaustion and many other important points.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Freia

I have to apologize. I really want to have this philosophical conversation!!! I enjoy it. I just haven’t had the time. I keep the page open in my browser and save the session and keep seeing it there. I hate to just give a cursory answer to anything. And as a result it looks like I have ignored you, but that’s not the case!!!!!

One day! Anyway, that’s amazing you’re also a dentist. I liked your analogy. OK, off to work I go. The thought occurs we should just Skype each other! 😉

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Amy

Just a quickie! When are you going to change that belief about your body “not being able to produce hormones naturally”? 😉 It seems that it MUST be now that you have to reduce your meds. Because if your body isn’t functioning better to surprise you and your doc, what is going on there?????? Hmmmm! Something to think about.

Keep on inspiring us all! Thanks

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Stephanie

I would be wary of advice to just keep going further (because you’re just ‘opening up’). I have met quite a number of yoga teachers (hot yoga and bikram) who have a frequent regular practice who have this kind of hip pain. What it indicates is that there is an imbalance in the way you’re using your body. I would go back to alignment basics. In Standing Bow, go to that point where you can reliably keep that hip down, and then kick backward. You will feel that even though you aren’t going as deeply.

In Floor Bow try adjusting your shoulders and once again don’t kick to get more depth, work your way to better alignment, hold your legs in closer.

It’s possible because you are so ‘gummi’ 😉 that your strength building has not kept up with your flexibility. So what’s required now is a new focus. It will renew your practice in a fascinating way!

By all means take a little time off. Your body does need its recovery time.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Cheryl

That sounds very positive.

Here’s what I would do (you may have read this on your forum travels). I would probably go and NOT do the whole class. I would probably start by watching the first set of poses and doing the second set. Stay still, breathe, learn by watching and acclimatize to the heat. That is a 2 week physiological process so you WILL gain benefits simply from being in the heat. There is really no need to over exert especially in the beginning. It pays to take longer and more care in your process. Don’t be concerned about what others think. Just stay still look forward and learn without unnecessary movements and you will not distract anyone. They’re too busy to notice in any case! After a handful of classes start to do the first set and not the second. Then work your way up from there. You can only build your cardiovascular health by using your CV system. Most students find increased resilience with practice.

If you need to take a break, I would try to stay in the room and just lie down if you can manage it. You will be the best judge of what you need to do. I am not sure how it would be for your body to go from hot to cold quickly and what that means for your heart. But I do know you can take an easy route to get familiar with the poses and the environment.

My disclaimer: You have to be the one to choose!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Yvonne

Your problem is a mixed one! Yes you have a longstanding condition. And you have the issue of attending classes in a new style of yoga. So one of the problems with the whole scenario you describe is that as your first class in this yoga (or indeed most new skills) is that you can never really be as mindful as you would be in a familiar activity because you have a learning curve to work through. Many students without your issues have problems when first taking up this yoga for all sorts of reasons.

So I have a couple of general purpose questions for you to get us started:

Is the slippage most likely to occur in any backbend? Are there any backbends that would normally feel OK for you? For example the first backbend on the floor called Cobra. Does that cause the same issue as the Half Moon backbend? What about Camel? What about Floor Bow or Standing Bow? You can find photos to all these poses at the Resource Center.

What are the general ways you have to limit or modify your movements to minimize back pain on a day to day basis and with the other forms of yoga you have tried?

I do have some ideas for you but I would like to know more about your particular body.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Lisa

This is short because I am just about to shut up shop for the night 😉 but I really just wanted to get to this quickly. It could be something that you have aggravated with your new gym work. My immediate question would be what do you and your gym teachers say about your core strength? Just a thought to ponder on. Your wording in your post was very interesting about when you decided to ‘go for it’. It is possible that you didn’t have your core muscles activated at the time.

I do hope you feel better soon. My opinion is that you shouldn’t go back until your acute pain has gone. When you go back you make extra concerted effort to (a) activate your core and (b) bend your legs to start, in ALL paschimottanasana poses so that you do NOT strain the same muscles again. It’s a precaution. Bend the legs and keep the back straight and then EASE into those poses including your sit-up (which of course I would avoid for the first class or 2 while). In other words, be careful and test the waters before going back to what you know your body should be able to withstand.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Cheryl

I would like to ask you some questions! When you are exercising how do you know when your heart rate is 125? Do you have to monitor it? Or do you instinctively know when to stop? This is an important consideration, so please let me know!

The other thing I must know is if you are going to be practicing at a public studio or at home.

The important thing in a heated environment is that you do not expose yourself to extreme temperatures that some of the hot yoga studios heat to otherwise you could put yourself at unnecessary risk. It would be crucial for you to find a studio that heated to consistent and reliable temperatures. Or control your own environment at home.

Please let me know what your thoughts are when you respond to my questions and then I can make some more recommendations once I know your intentions and your circumstances.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Andi

The main concern is everyone’s safety including your own. I always like to have a little towel just for me in the studio so that I can wipe my own hands. As a student in class I don’t touch my face, but as a teacher I may be more inclined to do that (if the need arises to move hair from my eyes or whatever) so I definitely want to wipe my hands.

I don’t like the idea of using the same towel (another towel for example 😉 ) to attend to multiple students. It’s just not hygienic. I tend to wipe my hands and then adjust (and then wipe hands after). It does depend on what I am trying to achieve. I tend to make most of my adjustments by instruction and by light touch. The full on ‘place-the-towel-over-the-back’ adjustments are there but I just choose my one or 2 customers for that to go with the number of towels. There are students who have an extra towel for whatever reason and I use that preferentially. I guess I am also wondering which poses you are talking about adjusting. Standing and floor poses? Just the floor?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂