More people than ever are enjoying the benefits of yoga – and now there’s a great new way to turn up the heat and boost your results

Yoga has seen a massive uplift in the UK over recent years with the industry now estimated to generate a revenue of more than £895million in 2023. This huge growth has been built on the many associated health benefits of yoga that include improved flexibility, building muscle strength, improved bone health, lowering blood sugar levels, increasing your blood flow and helping your circulation, especially in your hands and feet.

But have you heard of Hot Yoga? Incorporating everything yoga stands for – mindfulness, balance of body and spirit, alleviation of stress and anxiety; along with the detoxifying benefits of the added heat, the rewards of hot yoga are countless.

IT’S NOT JUST PHYSICAL

Great for beginners as well as experienced yogis, hot yoga – carrying out yoga in the heat – is designed to stretch and strengthen muscles through a sequence of static asana (postures) which leave you feeling stronger, renewed, and flexible. The heat enables joints and muscles to loosen and open up, allowing an increased range of movement while cleansing your body from within.
Increased sweat improves circulation and increases oxygen-rich blood to your skin cells, providing you with a post-yoga glow. Sweating from exercise can actually reverse signs of ageing from a cellular level. The positive impact means your skin can produce more collagen, better hydration and less sagging.

Working out in a hot room is will also mean your heart and lungs work a little harder giving your respiration, heart rate and metabolism a boost. There is also some early evidence to suggest that yoga can improve brain health and aspects of brain function like cognition, attention and processing speed.

REDUCE SEVERE DEPRESSION

A new study by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in the US, also found that regular hot yoga classes are an effective treatment for symptoms of depression. The study showed that 44 per cent of adults who participated in at least two hot yoga classes per week had seen such a dramatic improvement in symptoms that they were no longer classed as clinically depressed.

HOTPOD YOGA

If you haven’t tried hot yoga yet, there’s a super cool new addition to the yoga family that may just appeal. Hotpod Yoga was launched in 2013 by yoga teacher Nick and strategy consultant Max with a simple ambition to create a yoga experience like no other – one that turned up the dials to new levels, including calming scents, glowing lights and relaxing beats as well as the heat.
Fusing innovative design and intricate detailing, it’s basically doing yoga in a specially designed pod that’s heated to 37℃, and since its launch nearly 500,000 people have taken part in classes across more than 50 locations in the UK. And it’s now arrived in Brum!

SCIENCE BEHIND THE SWEAT

While yoga is a fairly low intensity form of exercise, the heat of the Pod raises your body temperature. By mimicking the effects of a more intense physical activity, it increases your heart rate, providing a challenge for your cardiovascular system. More so than unheated yoga. And, of course, regular cardiovascular exercise equals a healthy heart.

The fact that it takes much less time in the heat to loosen up those muscles, is one of the big benefits of hot yoga, allowing you to get to those deeper stretches sooner.