Hot yoga is a popular form of yoga performed in a room with high humidity and heat, usually between 80 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit. A heated yoga studio is probably the last place where you want to be during warm summer months, but is doing hot yoga during warmer seasons actually bad for you?
Contrary to the popular belief, practicing this form of yoga during hot summer months isn’t actually unsafe. The main point of hot yoga is to replicate the heat and humidity of India, where yoga originally comes from, and the temperature in your studio will be the same in the summer as it would be in the winter.
Hot yoga comes with certain risks, but they exist during any season. Hydrating before, after, and during the class is crucial because dehydration happens to be one of its biggest risks and can lead to dizziness, nausea, headaches, and even a heat stroke.
You most likely won’t find yourself dealing with these problems if you’re already a fan of hot yoga. Doing hot yoga in the summer can even be beneficial because it will help your body become more adapted to sweating and extreme temperature and develop a stronger coping mechanism in the face of excessive heat.
