Spoiler Alert: There’s Sweat!

It’s memorable—that first time you notice that the sweat on your yoga mat is not your own. Often crammed with other bodies into a small room heated to over 100 degrees— for many yoga students, hot yoga is a black-or-white, love-it-or-hate-it experience. There’s no grey. No maybe’s. The intimacy of that much sweat and physical intensity in the confined space of a yoga studio either alienates or attracts. Someone else’s sweat and breath are a red line for a lot of people, but for others, the combination breeds a sense of communal effort and dedication. Many who practice it describe the pairing of extreme physical exertion with a shared group consciousness as addictive.

A Brief History of the Heated Room in Western Studios

Hot yoga became a “thing” in the West in the 1980s. At the time, yoga practices were enjoying an increase in popularity throughout the U.S. due to celebrity support, televised programs and the increased availability of the practice in yoga studios. Within this context, Bikram Choudhury emerged as a celebrity-endorsed guru, touting the rigidity of his practice and selling hot yoga as an authentic experience of yoga, calling it “Bikram yoga.” He prescribed the use of an austere environment and designed a physically taxing yoga sequence, both of which signaled to students that it would be a step away from the more gentle “stretch-based classes” that were popping up all over the country.

Consisting of 26 physical postures and two breathing practices, Bikram yoga was the same practice every time, no matter the location. Every Bikram studio, too, conformed to the same minimalist conditions—a mirror on the wall, no music and no props. Rooms were heated to above 105ºF, the humidity was set to around 40 percent, and highly-trained teachers offered the same scripted instruction.

Cleveland Willis, co-owner of Still Hot Yoga in Decatur, described his first class as “brutal in the best sense” as well as “an awakening.” He’s not alone in his feelings; most hot yoga students describe an intense first-time experience.

Few hot studios refer to Bikram Choudhury any longer because of multiple lawsuits alleging sexual harassment, assault, racism and homophobia. In its stead, the Original Hot Yoga Association (OHYA) now provides both legitimacy and community for hot yoga teachers. As Willis helpfully notes, however, the name Bikram remains meaningful to students because of the type of rigorous practice it represents.

Here in Atlanta, students can find traditional hot yoga studios like Still Hot Yoga and Be Hot Yoga, as well as other studios, including the Highland and Yonder chains, that “warm” their classes but are otherwise more open in their approach. Their heat and humidity are lower in comparison, and they vary the postures, music and teaching styles they offer. These classes are popular, partly due to increasing awareness of heated yoga’s physiological benefits. As Be Hot Yoga owner Diana Delatour explains, research continues to grow our understanding of the benefits of the practice to cardiovascular health, range of motion, connective tissue, cellular stress response and mental well-being. She notes that Be Hot students are a truly diverse group of people and reports that “we see that this type of yoga is accessible and helpful to almost everyone.”

Benefits That Nurture Self and Others


Students and teachers alike report that by doing hot yoga in whatever form, they feel a strong sense of communal and personal accomplishment. They report some relief from chronic stress and describe the heat as facilitating their path to awakening within their yoga practice.

For many, heated yoga practices breed a sense of community. Sam Martin, a longtime hot yoga practitioner, sums this up neatly by saying, “Relationships with teachers, with people you practice with—that’s a big part of it for me. I get some fellowship out of it, and it’s really cool to walk through life with people.” Natalie Holloway and Jessica Martin, two Yonder Yoga students, note the importance of the teacher/student relationship and the encouragement they get from being with their trusted teachers in such a taxing environment. The Still Hot and Be Hot communities are welcoming their second generations into the studio—longtime students are bringing their grown children and expanding their sense of communal work. “For me, it’s just gratitude, you know?” says Willis. “We’re all in this together when we’re in the room.”

Hot yoga devotees emphasize the opportunity for compassion toward self and others within the rigor of the class—a kind of communal compassion that brings forth lovingkindness. Delatour described her entire studio ethos as “the kind and gentle Bikram.” “[The practice] is a challenge [and] you earn the benefits. But we try to make space for everyone to work to his own level.” Willis offers his advice: “Take breaks when you need to. Do your best. Stay in the room.”

The practice also seems to offer a sense of personal achievement, according to Delatour. It “gives people a lot of confidence because ... you’re just you. Your mat… towel… water… in front of this mirror. You’re sweating like crazy. You’re doing these challenging postures. There’s a sense of accomplishment. You think, ‘I can handle life. I can do anything.’” Sam Martin shared that “it’s the first workout I’ve found that I could go into and work my rear off for 90 minutes and come off feeling better on the other side.”

In fact, most students report a discernible relief from stress—they do, indeed, feel better after class. “It shuts my brain up!” says Willis. Both Jessica Martin and Holloway point to the protected class space as contributing to their stress relief. Says Holloway, “The heat and humidity. The darkness. It’s like I cross a threshold. It signifies a more sacred time.”

Finally, to its practitioners, hot yoga is aligned with traditional yoga’s purpose to offer a structured path to enlightenment and awakening for practitioners. “Yoga is a place where I can grow,” says Jessica Martin. “All the stuff I was worried about doesn’t seem so pressing anymore,” says Delatour. “I can handle it now. I sweated out some stuff I needed to get rid of.” Willis describes it this way: “We get closer to whatever your version of a higher power is, in the room, sometimes. And that goes back to that rigidness, that heat, that sweat, that focus, that determination. It is a great lesson in connecting with yourself, connecting with something bigger.”

Five Things to Do Before You Go

• If you have any medical conditions or injuries, check first with your primary healthcare provider.
• Bring a water bottle, a mat and a towel. Many studios share a list of what beginners should bring.
• Plan to be kind. Set the intention to accept yourself just as you are.
• Plan your recovery by setting aside time to rest, shower and rehydrate afterward.
• Plan your next class, too. Be sure to try heated yoga more than once. ❧

Patricia Schmidt, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, YACEP, is a certified yoga therapist specializing in pelvic health, accessible yoga and yoga for cancer support. She is a Franklin Method trainer, a Roll Model Method Teacher and somatic movement specialist. To learn more, visit PLSYoga.com.