That is, until I learned more about the effects of heat on the body when doing any sort of ... hot yoga, bikram, dangers of hot yoga, hot yoga dangers, hot yoga ... Your body keeps temperature homeostasis via a negative feedback system.InthetownthatIcurrentlylivein,Ireallycan’twalkdownthestreetwithoutseeingatleastoneyogastudio.Ontopofthat,everysingleyogastudioisaheatedstudio,meaningthatallclassesaredoneinaheatedroomwithatemperaturerangefromaround90degreesto117degrees.Iwillnotlietoanyofyou,Iwasahotyogajunkieforalongtime.Thatis,untilIlearnedmoreabouttheeffectsofheatonthebodywhendoinganysortofmovement,albeityogaorworkingoutinexternal,extremeheat.   Hotyogaisahugecrazeatthemoment.It’sgettingmoredifficulttofindastudiothatisn’theated,andallmodalitiesaretaughtinaheatedenvironmentfromthestandardBikramtoVinyasa.Iwasayogateacher,havingtaughtinheatedandunheatedenvironments,buthavingsomeothereducationhashelpedmelearnmoreaboutwhatIwasteaching.Hopefullythefactscanhelpyoumakethedecisionyourself,whetheryogainexternalheatisyourfriendoryourenemy. ExternalHeatandBodyHeatHotyogabringsitsownexternalheatsourcetoheatuparoomtoaround100degrees.Butit’simportanttomentionthatyouproduceyourowninternalheatwhenyouexercise,andyes,youcanconsideryogamoderateexercise.Hotyogausesstaticholds(andsomeflow),whichmeansyouarelengtheningspecificpartsofthebodydependingonwhatposeyouareinandthencontractingotherpartsofthebodytokeepyoustable,whichmeansyouareisometricallycontractingthemusclesthatarekeepingyoustable. Howdoesyourbodyproduceitsowninternalheat?Severalchemicalreactionsoccurinthecellsofthemuscletissue.Thesecellsthenreleaseenergy,whichisintheformofheat.Therateofchemicalreactionincreasesduringmusclecontractiontherebyincreasinginternalheatofthebody.Thisconceptisimportantlateronaswecontinuetotalkaboutheatanditseffectsonthebody. Hotyogaprettymuchgivesyouaheat-on-heatresponse,whichcanleadtoheatexhaustionorevenheatstroke.Wheninternalheatrises,vasodilationoccursinthebloodvesselsintheskinandyoubegintosweattocool