Hot Yoga

Hot Yoga- it's hot. It is a series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises performed in the same order, in a heated room. It falls under the hatha and bikram yoga style and it works the entire body, stretching muscles, building foundational strength, detoxing internal organs, stimulating the glandular systems, and challenging the cardiovascular system. So it sounds pretty sweet right?

So let me just tell you how I got into this situation-
My friends and I were studio deal shopping and came across a studio that had $30 for 30 days unlimited yoga for new students. Clearly we hopped on board, clearly we didn't fully read the class description before we went. My friend and I walked into the room and it was hot and humid, like more hot and humid than anything I have experienced in my life. I instantly was dripping with sweat and gasping for air, living in Wisconsin does not condition the lungs for that type of temperature. We also didn't realize how long the class was- 90 minutes. That's 1 hour and 30 minutes. That's a long time to be in there!
The course description that I skimmed over clearly stated "appropriate for beginner and more experienced students alike" but my body disagreed. My friend ended up laying on the mat for about 30 minutes and I went in between child's pose and sitting on my butt the whole time. Towards the end I couldn't lift my arms above my head without tipping backwards and blacking out a bit.
Speaking of blacking out about 20 minutes in, still into the warm up, the instructor asked another new student in front how she was doing and the student replied "fine, just blacking out a bit". That was about 20 minutes in.
After the class the instructor told the new students good job said that we would feel better soon, I mostly felt like I was going to puke all night.
The other students around me were very inspiring, I literally have no idea how their bodies can handle it! When reading the testimonials online after the class the make-up of the students doing Hot Yoga were marathon runners, fitness experts, and people doing yoga for years. So if you are not in super great physical condition, maybe work up to going to a full on Hot Yoga class. 

I also looked up different opinions and studies on the benefits of Hot Yoga and there were a lot of disagreements. Some experts say it just dehydrates you while others claim it detoxifies your system. Basically I decided that everyone is different and the only way to know is to just give it a try! Also remember that you are paying for the class and if half way through you can't handle it you are allowed to leave!

So lessons learned:
1. Read course description thoroughly.
2. Check to see how long the class will run.
3. Read testimonials!