When it comes to hot yoga, its main focus is hot and sweaty yoga practice. In hot yoga, a certain environment is created where the body temperature gets elevated, your sweat will start dripping, and you will only pay attention to your movement and breathing.
Unlike other forms of yoga, hot yoga is unique. During hot yoga, the heat of your hot yoga studio will alter the surroundings completely, which simultaneously will alter the requirements for your practice.
In this article, we will talk about some hot yoga tips that will help you get into this practice conveniently and properly, especially if you are a beginner in hot yoga. With these suggestions, you will be able to make the most of your time in the hot room, whether you are a seasoned hot yogi or just getting ready to take your first Hot Yoga class.
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9 Tips for Beginners in Hot Yoga
Here are nine tips that will help you adjust to hot yoga soon and help you ensure:
Staying Hydrated
Hot yoga will make you swear a lot, so it’s important that you stay hydrated. It will require you to drink a lot of water before and after hot yoga practice. However, drinking any liquid won’t help you in this regard, as not all liquids are the same.
The best option is water, but it lacks the extra benefit of electrolytes. Electrolytes are included in sports drinks, but those drinks also contain a large amount of added sugar and other unhealthy substances.
Coconut water is a great option for rehydrating your body after a heated yoga session that causes a lot of sweating. Coconut water has potassium, 5 essential electrolytes, and B vitamins, and doesn’t have the extra carbohydrates that you will find in sports drinks.
Finding Proper Substitutes for Water
If you can’t find any coconut water, you can still make your own electrolyte water. You only need to add a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt to your filtered water. Make sure to drink enough water before, during, and after your hot yoga session.
Just make sure you’re getting the required amount of water each day. There is a trick to that as well. Divide your weight in pounds by two, and then turn the number that you got into ounces and drink that much water per day. For instance, a 120-pound girl should consume at least 60 ounces of water each day.
You can bring an insulated or ice-filled water bottle to your hot yoga class to prevent your water from heating up. Avoid continuously chugging water; instead, take occasional little sips.
Getting A Strong Grip
Hot yoga makes you sweat a lot. However, many yoga mats lose their traction and grip when they become wet. Finding a yoga mat that keeps traction while you sweat is crucial, as slipping can be annoying and even dangerous.
You can also try covering your entire yoga mat with a towel. Towels with bottom grips will help the mat remain in place while you practice. The best options for safe and effective hot yoga practice are mats with a textured top layer, cork yoga mats, and yoga mat towels.
Dealing with the Excessive Sweating
Although sweating a lot is great, it shouldn’t distract you from your task. You should put on a headband at first to stop the sweat from getting in your eyes. You can also keep a hand towel on top of your mat, which you can use to dry yourself and wipe off any sweat in between your positions.
Don’t bother applying makeup or fixing your hair before class, as you’ll be sweating a lot. Just pull your hair back into a bun or ponytail. The same goes for applying lotion before class. If you do so, it will become slippery and slimy after you start sweating.
Wearing Comfortable and Suitable Clothes
Wearing your thickest leggings or a yoga top that is beautiful but constricting is not recommended for hot yoga. Nobody likes to practice yoga in droopy, sloppy clothes, so choose breathable, sweat-wicking, and stretchy clothing instead. You can wear anything you deem comfortable for you in that temperature. You can go topless in case you are a man, and in the case of a woman, you can flaunt your sports bra if you feel like it. Instead of wearing leggings, you should go for shorts or capris and choose lightweight and high-performance materials.
Keeping Your Hunger in Check
You should never take part in Hot Yoga with an empty stomach because your body will need the energy from a healthy meal for your practice. Eating something 2–4 hours before practicing (try not to eat anything within an hour of class) is preferable. Choose a handful of almonds or dried fruit if you’re hungry and need a quick snack (or if you practice early in the morning) to avoid feeling weighed down throughout the class.
Showering Right After the Session
Our bodies draw pollutants to the skin’s surface through the pores when we sweat. Hot yoga has a purifying effect, but it loses that effect if you don’t take a shower right away to wash those toxins out of your system.
Arriving at the Studio Bit Early
It’s always better to show up early for a hot yoga class. With humidity and temperatures ranging from the mid-80s to the low-100s, your body will require some time to adjust to the hot environment before you begin to move. You should stay in the hot room throughout the class. After your body has adjusted to the higher temperature, leaving before Savasana can shock your physical system and make you feel faint, nauseous, or dizzy.
Practicing on a Regular Basis
Hot yoga is a wonderful form of exercise with many advantages. However, it’s also a challenging form of yoga. So, you will be able to get the best out of it if you give your body the time to recover and rest, just like any other challenging exercise.
It is best to practice three to four times per week for consistency and to see results. This will leave you with at least two to three days per week to unwind and allow your body to rest so you can return to your yoga studio feeling strong, healthy, and prepared for more.
Final Words
Hot yoga is one of the most intense forms of yoga, and it comes with quite a lot of benefits. It is a fantastic method to improve your attention, strength, and flexibility while also detoxifying your body. Numerous motivating factors exist to start or continue a regular hot yoga practice. You can make the most of your time in the hot room and get the best out of your practice by following the aforementioned 9 hot yoga tips.
