What Are The Benefits of Hot Yoga?

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What are the benefits of Hot Yoga? Are there any?

A recent newspaper article declared that Hot Yoga is no better for your heart than regular Yoga. The article is flawed however: it focuses on just measures around heart function and in Yoga or Hot Yoga, we always try to breathe full, calm breaths. This breath style activates our parasympathetic (relaxation) response. Instead of getting stressed by the effort, we learn to ease into it – and that’s a useful skill, fully transferable to many other life situations. Naturally, here isn’t a big change in heart measures! We’re calming the heart down all the
time. Looking at heart measures is an ill-informed approach to quantifying the effects of Hot Yoga.

benefits

If no one is claiming that Hot Yoga is a cardio workout, then what are the benefits? I recently blogged about a natural substance called heat shock protein. The interaction between Hot Yoga and heat shock protein hasn’t been explored in a clinical or research setting, so my blog really just discusses what I found out from a literature search. Still, it makes interesting reading! So, is there anything really quantifiable?

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New Scientist – Their Words about the Benefits of Yoga

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No sweat: Is yoga a proper workout?

sweat

For some it’s spiritualist mumbo-jumbo. But while other disciplines will get you fitter faster, the psychological upsides of yoga are hard to deny

By Catherine de Lange

Namaste! It’s famous for its downward dogs and sun salutations, and each year more and more of us are doing yoga – over 37 million people practiced it in some form or other in the
US in 2016 (see diagram). But is there any evidence for the benefits claimed for body and mind?

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The New Scientist – Their Words on Hot Yoga & Benefits for Dealing with Depression

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Hot yoga classes reduce emotional eating and negative thoughts

Yoga: good for the body and good for the mind

By Aylin Woodward

depression

Yoga seems to reduce symptoms of depression, including focusing on negative feelings and emotional eating, suggesting the practice may be a useful complement to talking therapies and antidepressant drugs.

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Teacher training: Weekend 1 from the inside…

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Teacher training is a journey for the students. There are a lot of (positive) personal, physical and attitude/outlook changes in store for anyone joining the course. In this blog, I’d like to give you an insight into the other side of the equation – namely, what it’s like for me as course leader.

Yoga Teacher Training

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Mastering Arm Balances – Information for Beginners

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What are arm balances?

If we’ve been to enough yoga classes, or follow enough yoga profiles online, we’ll all be aware of Bakasana (picture below).

Arm Balances

In fact there’s so many of them, it’s amazing what you’ll find out there. And in some classes, workshops and courses you’ll receive teaching on how to practice these postures.

Arm balances

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More than just Hot Yoga

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This blog article explores the effects of heat on your system, through some of the latest research into diet, longevity and exercise. We’ll see that heat might just be one of the most powerful exercise tools to emerge to date. But there’s more to health than just exercise. Satisfaction in life comes from a well-coordinated lifestyle. Exercise is a part of this, but Yoga also recognises the need for body and mind to integrate in the maintenance of the individual. This article explores the connection from heat through to Hot Yoga as the means to stimulate, promote and maintain great overall function in body, in mind and in relationships.

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Merry Christmas from Perfect Postures! Partner Tree Pose

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Christmas Tree Pose!

What better time to don Christmas jumpers, grab a bauble and find a friend / family member with whom to have a Christmas Yoga practice! So this week, we present to you, Christmas Tree Pose!

Christmas Tree

We love Christmas at Yogafurie.

Well we’ve always loved Christmas, even before Yogafurie was thought of. As a family we’ve made a big deal about the festive season. The whole family would get together, we’d exchange gifts, eat a huge dinner, and play games into the evening with Christmas telly on in the background. We’d of course have our own Christmas tree in the house.

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Halfway to a Cartwheel! Side Angle Pose by Perfect Postures

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Stretch your hips and open your chest with Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana)

“Yoga. Because punching people is frowned upon.” – Anonymous

Side Angle Pose

Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana) certainly can feel like a good wake up for the body! A big stretch for the side of the body, groin, spine, waist, chest, shoulders and the hip flexors as well as strengthening the legs. A fabulous way to wake up whilst brewing your morning coffee!

Read below to learn how to practice Side Angle Pose at home.

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