Bogdanrfw at 21:29, 1 October 2025

2025-10-01T21:29:17Z

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{{Short description|Yoga as exercise performed in hot conditions}}
{{Infobox sport
|titlestyle=Hot Yoga
|name=Hot Yoga
|image=[[file:Hot_Yoga_-_Wikipedia_Profile_Picture.jpeg|250px]]
|alt=Hot Yoga
|category=[[Yoga]]
|venue=Hot yoga is typically performed in a room heated to 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40,5 °C) with a humidity of 40%.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-30 |title=Hot Yoga: Benefits, Techniques, and How to Get Started for 2023 |url=https://sportycious.com/hot-yoga-961368/ |access-date=2023-07-03}}</ref>
|country/region=Canada, India, UK, USA
|image_size=205}}

'''Hot yoga''' is a form of [[yoga as exercise]] performed under hot and humid conditions, resulting in considerable sweating. Some hot yoga practices seek to replicate the heat and humidity of [[India]], where [[yoga]] originated.<ref name="BSM">{{cite web |last=Clark |first=Danielle |title=What is the Real Buzz behind Hot Yoga and Bikram Yoga? |date=25 November 2010 |url=http://bostonsportsmed.blogspot.com/2010/11/what-is-real-buzz-behind-hot-yoga-and.html |publisher=Boston Sports Medicine |access-date=21 November 2011}}</ref> [[Bikram Choudhury]] has suggested that the heated environment of [[Bikram Yoga]] helps to prepare the body for movement and to "remove impurities".<ref name="Hewett et al 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Hewett |first1=Zoe L. |last2=Cheema |first2=Birinder S. |last3=Pumpa |first3=Kate L. |last4=Smith |first4=Caroline A. |title=The Effects of Bikram Yoga on Health: Critical Review and Clinical Trial Recommendations |journal=Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine |date=2015 |volume=2015 |article-number=428427 |doi=10.1155/2015/428427 |pmid=26504475 |pmc=4609431 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Styles==

{{further|Bikram Yoga|List of yoga hybrids}}

The first style described as hot yoga is that of [[Bikram Choudhury]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Hot and Bothered: The Hype History of Hot Yoga |url=https://yogainternational.com/article/view/hot-and-bothered-the-hype-history-and-science-of-hot-yoga#citations}}</ref> who claimed to have devised it from traditional [[hatha yoga]] techniques,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bikramyoga.com/BikramYoga/about_bikram_yoga.php |title=Bikram's Yoga College of India |publisher=Bikramyoga.com |access-date=28 December 2011}}</ref> but then increased the temperature of the studios while in Japan to represent the heat of India. [[Bikram Yoga]] resulted, and became popular in the early 1970s after Choudhury moved to the United States.<ref name="Forbes">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0921/entrepreneurs-franchising-bikram-yoga-new-twists.html |title=Bikram Yoga's New Twists |last=Farrell |first=Maureen |date=3 September 2009 |magazine=Forbes.com}}</ref> The style incorporates 24 [[asana]]s and 2 breathing exercises along with a room heated to {{convert|105|F|C}}. Each class is 90 minutes long and has a fixed sequence of movements. The class ends with a two-minute [[shavasana]] (corpse pose). Bikram Yoga differs markedly from other hot yoga styles, as shown in the table.<ref name="Tripp 2013">{{cite news |last1=Tripp |first1=Megan |title=Hot Yoga vs Bikram Yoga: What's The Difference? |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/2013/09/11/what-is-the-difference-between-hot-yoga-and-bikram-yoga/ |work=Boston Magazine |date=11 September 2013}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Differences<ref name="Tripp 2013"/> !! [[Bikram Yoga]] !! Hot yoga (in general)
|-
| Poses || [[Postures of Bikram Yoga|Fixed sequence of 26 postures]] || Varied asanas in varying sequences
|-
| Temperature, humidity || {{convert|105|F|C}}, 40% humidity || {{convert|80|-|100|F|C}}, varied humidity
|-
| Lighting || Bright lights, mirrored front wall || Any lighting, e.g. candles; mirrors optional
|-
| Training || Bikram-certified || Any
|-
| Sound || No music, no clapping || Music is common; applause is common at the end
|-
| Interaction || Instructors do not adjust students: students self-adjust using mirror-wall; students may not talk || Adjustments can be used; interaction is permitted
|}

[[Forrest Yoga]] is a style developed by Ana T. Forrest, c. 1982. The style focuses on holding poses for a longer duration. The repetition of twenty specific poses accentuates the stretch equally on each side of the body.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cook |first=Lynn |title=Forrest yoga challenges with added intensity |work=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=15 February 2009 |url=https://www.chron.com/life/article/Forrest-yoga-challenges-with-added-intensity-1744808.php}}</ref>

[[CorePower Yoga]], founded in 2002, is a vigorous multi-disciplinary hot yoga style.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news |last=Hines |first=Alice |title=Inside CorePower Yoga Teacher Training |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/06/style/corepower-yoga-teacher-training.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 6, 2019}}</ref>

Baron Baptiste [[Power Yoga]] has the room heated somewhat less than Bikram Yoga. Baptiste, who learnt yoga from [[T. K. V. Desikachar]] and [[B. K. S. Iyengar]] as a boy, and had [[Indra Devi]] as godmother, uses a [[Vinyasa]] (flow) style, the breath linked to the movements, with emphasis on the gaze ([[Drishti (yoga)|Drishti]]) and the use of a lock, [[Uddiyana Bandha]], to stabilize the core.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cullis |first=Leah |date=11 November 2021 |title=Pillars of Power: Why We Heat the Room in Baptiste Yoga |url=https://www.yogajournal.com/yoga-101/types-of-yoga/hot-yoga/pillars-power-heat-room-baptiste-yoga/ |access-date=16 July 2024 |website=[[Yoga Journal]]}}</ref>

Moksha yoga, also known as Modo Yoga, is based on Bikram Yoga. Moksha Yoga was founded in Canada in 2004 by human rights and environmental activists Jessica Robertson and Ted Grand.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.uppsalahotyoga.se/yoga-in-english/what-is-hot-yoga/ |title=What is Hot Yoga? {{!}} Bikram - Moksha - Baron Baptiste |website=Hot Yoga Uppsala |access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref>

Tribalance Hot Yoga, created in [[Schaumburg, Illinois]] by Corey Kelly and Shawnda Falvo in 2007, is based on Bikram and [[Yin Yoga]]; it does not have a fixed series of asanas, and emphasises the meditational aspect of yoga.<ref>{{cite web |title=TriBalance Hot Yoga |url=https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/5206/tribalance-hot-yoga |publisher=Yogapedia |access-date=21 November 2019}}</ref>


==Contraindications==

Exercise in high heat and humidity is a [[contraindication]] for pregnant women, as there is an increased risk of exhaustion, and hence muscle injury and cartilage and tissue damage. Hormones and fetal development affect blood pressure, making the mother also more susceptible to fainting and lightheadedness if exercising in a hot environment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Justin |last2=Natekar |first2=Aniket |last3=Koren |first3=Gideon |title=Hot yoga and pregnancy |journal=Canadian Family Physician |date=January 2014 |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=41–42 |pmid=24452558 |pmc=3994790 }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|28em}}

{{Yoga as exercise}}

[[Category:Yoga styles]]

Hot yoga - Revision history

Bogdanrfw at 21:29, 1 October 2025