The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › Hot Yoga Facts
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in reply to: weight gain, water retention, bloating… #7481
Hmmm… it also just occurred to me that the water I’d been taking to yoga was usually from our reverse-osmosis system. Our tap water is very high in chlorine, among other stuff, so we have an RO system on the kitchen sink, but not connected to the fridge. I usually use both sources of water, but had been filling our metal bottles we take to yoga with only the nice RO water, which tastes much better. Maybe that’s been a factor as well.
in reply to: weight gain, water retention, bloating… #7480Thank you for your advice and caring. I’ve been out of town and then without a computer, so I haven’t been able to reply. I had already read some about hyponatremia and was fairly certain I could rule that out, so no worries there. I went to my doctor and got complete blood work done – kidney function, thyroid, blood sugar etc. and nothing came back abnormal. During this time, instead of drinking just water, I really upped my electrolyte intake with Smartwater and other electrolyte drinks, both during class and throughout the day, and that really made the difference. I took 10 days off due to travel, but have now been back for 2 weeks, going about 4 times a week and I feel back to normal. Actually, I feel great.
It’s still puzzling to me. I live in AZ so it’s been over 100 degrees and maybe that compounded with the hot yoga threw my body out of whack. I began this yoga practice in May, just as the temp was rapidly rising into summer. I’ve lived in this heat for years and never felt the necessity to hydrate with more than plain water, even when I was running 5K 4 times a week. Anyway, whatever the cause, I’m feeling good and keeping up my electrolytes! Thanks again.
in reply to: weight gain, water retention, bloating… #7229I’m not peeing more than normal. I went to yoga today and had a good practice. I didn’t feel such low energy today – the session is never “easy” but I wasn’t struggling either – a perfectly normal practice. I made sure to drink before, during and after and have had 750 ml electrolyte water as well. I feel fine, but my hands are still very puffy and feel no change with any of the bloating.
in reply to: weight gain, water retention, bloating… #7225Okay, I’m trying to make sense of all this… I don’t quite understand – is there a difference between having low electrolytes and/or low sodium or are they one and the same? I’ve been drinking electrolyte drinks all day yesterday, but still cannot put on a ring today. I am going to try yoga today.
Some more info: I am 5′ 4″ (162 cm) and weigh about 130-135. I’m a stay-at-home mom to 2 kids ages 4 and 6. My in-laws are visiting from Oz, we are having a wonderful time and my life is pretty relaxed right now. My general diet is “good” in that I eat lots of fresh fruit and veg from our garden, not too many carbs, try to stay away from processed foods. I am not vegetarian, but we consume lean meats and fish and do not have meat daily. We do eat dairy, so some cheese, milk and eggs. Brown rice, salads – our garden is producing lots of tomatoes and zucchini right now, so lots of those! I cook with sea salt, but have normal table salt of the table. I do not add salt to everything, but have never really limited what I use because I’ve never had an issue. I’ve always been pretty healthy and athletic and tend to have low-to-normal blood pressure (110/70). I have not changed my eating habits in the past few months. My urine is not dark and I don’t feel dehydrated.
Does that give you any further ideas? If I have low sodium, how is that remedied? Thanks!
in reply to: weight gain, water retention, bloating… #7220The strange thing is that I was feeling so great for the first 3-4 weeks, it’s only been the last 2 that I’ve felt so awful. A number of times, I’ve had to get up in the middle of the night to remove my rings – I could feel them getter tighter and tighter. This last time, 2 days ago, I needed soap and baby oil to get them off! These are rings I’ve worn for 10 years (or more) and I haven’t put them on again.
My energy is so low – at yesterday’s class, I actually sat out a few poses which I’ve never done before and today I didn’t go at all. I’ve been drinking electrolyte drinks today to see if that relieves any of this. If this should “normalize” in a week or so… why would I be feeling like this now, after feeling great for the first few weeks? I would have thought I’d have an adjustment period at first, but would have acclimated after the first few weeks.
in reply to: Difference between Bikram and Hot Yoga? #7156Thanks, everyone… great information. I am attending a new studio that is “Sumit” Hot Yoga. Sumit Banerjee credits Bikram as his main teacher and mentor and also mentions a few others in his bio, so I think this is sort of his own “version” of Bikram. There are apparently 5 or more Sumit’s hot yoga studios in the US now. I am loving this practice!
in reply to: Difference between Bikram and Hot Yoga? #7115Thanks for the information! The studio I’m currently attending is apparently “Sumit” hot yoga. Some of the things i’ve read regarding Bikram make it sound more difficult, stricter, and a bit intimidating! Good to know it’s really not that different than what I practice now. I’ll see if I can try Bikram at some point, but I really love the atmosphere of this studio.
Thanks so much for offering your wisdom and advice to so many via this website!! What a great resource!
in reply to: Difference between Bikram and Hot Yoga? #7095Thanks, that’s interesting. The Moksha poses and series look to be very similar to the type of hot yoga I practice. I’ve also found info on Sumits yoga which looks to be much the same. I wonder – since my only experience is this type of hot yoga, will I be thrown for a loop in a Bikram class, or will I find it familiar? I haven’t found a Bikram studio nearby, but I am very happy with my current yoga practice.
Although this thread is old, I wanted to offer my experiences in hopes they might be useful to others. Besides hydration, take notice of your head and neck tension and positions. I used to run, lift weights, sometimes do spin classes, etc. and very often suffered post-exercise headaches that lasted all day. After much trial and error and reading lots of advice, I found that my problem was related to my neck and head positioning. When running, I’d often keep my chin up high, eyes on the horizon. When lifting, I’d raise my head to see my positions in the mirror instead of keeping my neck and head aligned. I’d read that bikers/spinners especially suffer these headaches because of the awkward position of leaning far forward and keeping the head up.
As soon as I made a concerted effort to occasionally look at my feet while running and to focus on the ground about 10 feet ahead, the headaches stopped! Instead of watching my reflection during lifting, I’d just glance at my position and then keep my neck and head aligned. Problem solved!!
When I began hot yoga, I found the headaches occurred after the first few classes. I realized that, being new, I was always in the back row and would often be crooking my head to try to see people in front of me in order to learn the correct positions. So, I concentrated on looking at the back wall or my feet, especially in upside-down positions (down-dog), and relaxing my neck muscles. (I also love my Yogitoes Element towel because I can focus on the element symbol at the top of my mat and it keeps me from raising my head too high.) It’s made a world of difference for me and I haven’t had headaches since!
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