Hot yoga is a popular practice for both physical and mental health. As the name implies, hot yoga is the practice of yoga in a heated setting. Hot yoga sessions are typically more vigorous and intense than the average yoga practice, as the heated environment helps the body go deeper into stretches while detoxifying in the process.
Many use hot yoga as a way to connect with their bodies physically, mentally, or spiritually. If you are new to the practice, it can seem a bit intense with the increased heat and new poses. Find tips for how to get started and how to do hot yoga at home effectively!
How to Do Hot Yoga at Home
Outside of a class, you can easily practice hot yoga on your own. Whether in a heated room or in a home sauna, solo hot yoga is a wonderful way to connect with your body and learn its limits without pushing it too far. From the clothes you wear and the yoga mat you use to the space you’re practicing in, make sure you use the proper equipment and high-quality materials to ensure your safety and comfort during any hot yoga session.
Boost the benefits of hot yoga by practicing in an infrared sauna. Both infrared saunas and hot yoga offer the health benefits of detoxification, weight loss, flexibility, and reduced stress. Doing hot yoga in a home sauna is the perfect scenario to boost your health benefits even further!
Tips for Hot Yoga for Beginners
Bring Extra Towels
Chances are, you’ll sweat a lot during your hot yoga session. Be prepared for extra moisture by bringing towels to keep yourself and your equipment dry. Working on a slippery yoga mat can be uncomfortable and a safety hazard.
Eat Light
Because hot yoga poses are more involved and vigorous than your average yoga class, it’s important to fuel your body before a session. Eat a healthy meal about 2-4 hours before your session to avoid cramps, nausea, or fatigue.
Practice Breathing
Honing in on your breath is important in hot yoga. Breathing exercises help bring you to a state of mindfulness and concentration, which can help you push through the heat of your hot yoga session and get comfortable.
Stay Hydrated
Sweating is great for detoxing, but can be dangerous if you don’t hydrate before and after practicing hot yoga. Drink water, replenish your electrolytes, and put moisturizer on your skin to ensure your body doesn’t lose any hydration.
Common Hot Yoga Poses
Hot yoga can be done with any poses you prefer. If you’re looking for a more guided yoga session, Bikram Yoga is the most common way to practice, where rooms are heated to 105°F (40°C) with 40% humidity. In this practice, 2 breathing exercises and 26 hot yoga poses are performed over the course of 90 minutes to activate muscles and increase blood circulation throughout the body.
1. Pranayama Deep Breathing
Pranayama increases focus and expands the lungs for respiratory health. It enables maximum oxygen to reach the muscles and organs and improves blood circulation. Breathing also helps calm the mind before a hot yoga session.
2. Half Moon Pose
The half moon pose focuses on strengthening the body’s core muscles. It also increases the spine’s flexibility and improves kidney function. This pose helps firm the body and tones the hips, buttocks, thighs, and abdomen.
3. Awkward Pose
This helps tone and shape the legs and torso while relieving joint and back pain. The awkward pose can also help improve slipped discs or other spine-related problems. It stretches your hips, spine, and chest muscles as well.
4. Eagle Pose
Eagle pose opens up the largest joints in the skeletal system. It improves the flexibility of the hips, knees, and ankles while improving blood flow to the kidneys. This hot yoga pose also helps increase your focus and improve balance.
5. Standing Head-to-Knee Pose
Theis pose strengthens the hamstrings and leg muscles and can improve the flexibility of sciatic nerves. It also tones the muscles of your abs, back, biceps, and triceps. This pose can also help with concentration and mental strength.
6. Standing Bow Pose
Standing bow pose develops balance, firms the upper thighs, and improves lower spine strength and flexibility. It is also great for cardiovascular health as it stimulates blood vessels and supplies fresh blood to the entire body.
7. Balancing Stick Pose
Balancing stick pose stretches the heart muscles, rejuvenates the brain, and boosts concentration. It strengthens your core and back muscles while gently stretching the entire spinal column. It’s also great to help burn calories.
8. Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose
This pose strengthens and stretches the sciatic nerves, increases the ankle and hip joint flexibility, and releases tension in lower back muscles. It’s believed to improve the functioning of the abdominal organs and their functions.
9. Triangle Pose
The triangle pose helps revitalize the veins, tissues, and nerves. This hot yoga pose helps reduce lower back pain and strengthens your knees, ankles, legs, chest, and arms. It can also reduce anxiety and improve digestion.
10. Standing Separate Head To Knee Pose
This pose aims to tone the abdomen, waist, hips, thighs, and buttocks while also improving mood. It has been said to stimulate the thyroid gland and to regulate both the metabolism and the immune system.
11. Tree Pose
Tree pose is a great stretch to help improve posture and balance. It increases the flexibility of hip joints, knees, and ankles, which improves overall joint health. This hot yoga pose also strengthens internal oblique muscles.
12. Toe Stand Pose
The pose strengthens and opens up your knees, joints, abdominal muscles, hips, ankles, and toes. It can also help increase focus and improve posture. The toe stand stretch can help keep you calm and balanced, as well.
13. Savasana
Savasana relaxes the body halfway through the hot yoga poses. It helps release stress, depression, tension, and fatigue while relaxing muscles. It also improves mental health and concentration and stimulates blood circulation.
14. Wind-Removing Pose
This hot yoga pose massages the digestive system to aid digestion. It also helps strengthen the arms, improves hip flexibility, tones the abdomen and thighs, eases tension in the lower back, and enhances blood circulation.
15. Sit Up Pose
The sit up pose increases your flexibility and stretches the spine, legs, and shoulders. It can also help firm the lower body and improves blood circulation in the legs. This pose also stimulates the kidneys and pancreas.
16. Cobra Pose
Cobra pose improves appetite, digestion, and metabolism. This hot yoga pose helps regulate blood pressure, enhances liver and spleen function, and helps make the spine both stronger and more flexible.
17. Locust Pose
This pose is ideal if you are prone to slipped discs and sciatica. The Locust pose strengthens the upper spine and relieves tennis elbow. It can also help reduce varicose veins on the legs and help firm the buttocks and hips.
18. Full Locust Pose
Similar to locust pose, full locust pose is great for slipped discs. It increases the elasticity of your rib cage and tones your arms, thighs, abdominal muscles, and hips. This pose also helps fix bad posture and reduce backache.
19. Bow Pose
The bow pose expands the lungs by opening the chest and shoulders and strengthens and revitalizes the spinal nerves. It can also help improve digestion and improve the function of the liver, kidneys, and spleen.
20. Fixed Firm Pose
The fixed firm pose stretches and expands your rib cage while stretching the leg muscles, knee joints, ankles, lower back, and hips. This hot yoga pose is also said to help regulate the thyroid and adrenal glands.
21. Half Tortoise
This hot yoga pose releases tension in the neck and shoulders. Additionally, it helps tone the thighs and abdomen and gives a relaxing stretch to the spine. The half tortoise pose also assists in increasing the flexibility of the hips.
22. Camel Pose
Camel pose stimulates the nervous system by compressing the spine. It improves the flexibility, strength, and posture of the neck and spine while stretching the abdominal organs, thus aiding in digestion.
23. Rabbit Pose
This hot yoga pose increases the mobility and elasticity of the back muscles and spine, thus reducing neck and back pain. The rabbit pose also helps circulate fresh blood and oxygen to the nerves for optimal performance.
24. Sitting Head-to-Knee Stretching Pose
The pose increases blood circulation to the liver, pancreas, thyroid, and intestines. It can help reduce allergies and is helpful for digestion. This hot yoga position can also help boost the immune and lymphatic systems.
25. Spine Twisting Pose
The spine twisting pose improves the elasticity of the spine and helps prevent slipped discs and arthritis. It calms the nervous system and relieves tension while increasing the supply of oxygen to your lungs.
26. Blowing in Firm Pose
Lastly, this hot yoga breathing technique helps boost detoxification during a yoga session. It uplifts and rejuvenates your brain at the end of a hot yoga session due to increased blood circulation and oxygen to the brain.
Tying hot yoga is an invigorating experience. It is a great place to connect with your body and mind as the heat requires you to take your movements slowly and with intention. The next time you are in your infrared sauna, try these hot yoga poses and tips to get one of the best physical and mental exercises!
