Hot Yoga & Traditional Chinese Medicine

Hot Yoga Hydration

I recently read an article about the rise of hot yoga (again).  And it got me thinking about something I learned in my Oriental Medicine program…the act of sweating. So I decided to write an article on Traditional Chinese Medicine & Hot Yoga.

In herbal medicine, sweating is a means of getting rid of a pathogen or illness.  And there are a couple of main herbal formulas where the premise is to ‘sweat it out’.  However, the formulas differ in the amount of sweat that is necessary.  One of the formulas will create a BIG sweat and the other is taken until one just begins to sweat. 

My teacher talked about sweating and how to know when one formula is right for someone.  One of the ways to know this is to ask someone how they feel after sweating.  Do they feel energized or depleted after sweating?  If they feel depleted, then do not give them the formula that creates the BIG sweat.  If they feel energized, then giving them the BIG sweat formula may be appropriate. 

So, let’s bring this back to hot yoga.  In hot yoga or Bikram Yoga (yes, they are different), the room is typically heated to at least 100 deg.  It’s HOT, people.  During the ONE Bikram class I took, I’ve never stripped off layers so quickly, I was so hot.  You can literally wring the sweat out your clothes, it’s so hot.  Are you getting the picture? 

If you’re contemplating which type of yoga to do (because truly, there IS a type of yoga for everyone…you just have to find the right one) and you’re thinking about some sort of hot yoga, let’s bring it back to sweating.  Do you feel good after a big sweat?  Do you feel energized..ready to go…do it again-type of energy?  Then hot yoga or Bikram yoga may be for you.  But if you feel depleted, exhausted or just plain tired after sweating a lot, then this type of yoga may be one to avoid. 

Amount of sweating…it's a very simple yet effective way to rule in or out a form of yoga to try.  Let me know if you try this premise for either yoga or any form of exercise.  I’d love to hear your thoughts!