Hot Yoga Experiences > Hot Yoga during Illness and Injuries
I wondered if it's okay to come to hot yoga when you have a sore throat, cold, runny nose and congestion. I sort of believe all the sweating will help get the bad stuff out, but don't want to breathe germs all over others in class. Your thoughts????
Thanks, Debbie
Debbie Levithan
I think that is the best time to work out the build up of "bad stuff" or toxins. Yet, use your judgement. If it is a serious illness then seeking appropriate medical attention would be the best course.
JaneC
I've found that coming to class when a cold is coming on helps to flush my system and speed the cold along its path--and it relieves congestion, too (especially when Rhonda gives you a little dab of Theives' Oil to put above your lip!). You'll be breathing easy by the middle of the first set of Pranayama.
If you have a fever, though, it's probably best to stay home.
Also, I have wondered about the germ question--I do worry about breathing germs all over everybody in that humid room. Maybe it helps that everyone is breathing through their noses?
Mary-Rush
I have been working through a cold for the past week and have found Hot Yoga class to be a great way to sweat out the bad stuff. Even though I get frustrated by the weakness in my muscles, I just make myself take a pose off when I need to and absorb the heat. After class I notice a definite improvement in my breathing and just all around well being. Fortunately I have not been dealing with a fever.
June Spinelli
I agree that the healing benefits of hot yoga squash those oncoming colds. I remember hearing somewhere the health benfit to your immune system lasts for 12 days after hot 26 class. If I start to feel a little off and get right into class, I don't seem to get any worse.
On the opposite, though, I have had super sick people next to me blowing their nose all through class and have been really concerned about the germ spread in the hot air- if your extremely sick my vote is practice at home!
Amy A
Interesting about the germs: I have never heard of anyone getting sick from others in the hot yoga room. I recommend you come to hot yoga when you have a cold, etc (not fever). Personally, I dont believe in the old-model germ theory; we literally co-exist with many millions of airborn and otherwise-transferable bacteria yet relatively few of us gets sick. The new paradigm (complete with scientific experiments) concludes that the host (that's you) has more to do with illness than the germs, ie, if you are a healthy body with a fully functioning immune system, (think of the hot yoga poses that boost your immune system!) you stay healthy. However, if you do believe in the germ-contagion theory, know that the same Thieves oil I dabbed on Mary-Rush, is used to clean our studio top to bottom: carpets, mirrors, mats, even the walls - and there's nothing more powerful (or more natural!) than the unique Thieves oil formula (since about 1300 AD. For real).
Rhonda
Thanks for the great tip Rhonda- I just searched and ordered thieves oil on amazon!
Amy A
Okay, hotties.
What's the conventional wisdom on practicing with an upset stomach? Does it help or are you just courting disaster?
Mary-Rush
I have actually gone to class with an "un-easy" stomach and felt much better after class. I was burping throughout class but I guess that is better than the alternatives - lol! I did let the teacher know in case I had to leave suddenly. ::o),
June Spinelli
I just make myself take a present off when I need to and process the warm. After category I observe a certain enhancement in my respiration and just all around well being. Luckily I have not been working with a high temperature.
Maitland Health Expert
Hi All,
New to Hot Yoga. Started in mid-April and just stopped for a week and a half due to the fact that I hurt my shoulder. I am anxious to get back to hot yoga but do not want to hurt my shoulder further. I have also read that the heat may make us more susceptible to injury since we stretch farther than we really should in the heat. I wonder if that is true for my hips, which always seem to be in slight pain since starting hot yoga. Anyway, any thoughts on accomodations for the shoulder and also on whether I may be over-stretching hips, etc, due to the heat? Oh, one last thought-- since starting, my neck has been giving me trouble. IT is making awful sounds and is much less able to turn all the way. Any suggestions for helping my neck?
Thank you!
CarolynH
Hi Carolyn - Congratulations on starting hot yoga! It is not unusual to feel some tightness working its way out when you start...and even when you are a seasoned practitioner, deeper things start to surface...but often this means it is working its way out.
There is a healing method called Retracing, during which your body "retraces" old injuries or illnesses in order to heal them more completely this time around - and oftentimes its a matter of patience while this works its way out.
The most important thing is to RELAX and trust that your body is always working towards balance and health and often, your body knows how to do this best. My guess is that since you injured your shoulder, you might be feeling stress and worry as you move into the poses - and this causes more contraction and muscle tightness and pain.
Have you checked with your doctor (if you are under doctors care) about your ability to return to hot yoga? If you get the OK, come back ASAP - hot yoga is an ideal place to speed the healing process as the heat will boost circulation to injured areas, regardless of the depth of your movement in the poses.
I can give you some overall tips for proper alignment in all the poses which will help your shoulder stability:
Anytime your arms are overhead/hands in prayer, LOCK YOUR ELBOWS and pull down on your shoulders
If you can tell me the poses where you are experiencing difficulty with your neck, shoulders and hips I can tell you the exact alignments that will support you in the pose. I dont really believe in "overstretching," especially if you are paying attention to your alignment in the poses (follow the teachers instructions and let me know which poses you need more help with and I will answer here!)
Most important - keep going to class. Do only what you can do without pain - remember, discomfort/stretching is not pain so keep going! Think of pain as "hitting a wall" - so you just back down a bit and stay in the pose. And taking a pose off is always fine - standing still in Savasana has many benefits, especially in the heat, for your body and mind. Use that time to take deep breaths and remind yourself to RELAX - this is yoga!
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Thank you! It may be that I have been pushing myself too hard in postures, causing neck and hip pain. I am concerned about the neck, though. It started giving me trouble right after I started hot yoga. I began to be much more careful, but still giving me trouble which may be contributing to shoulder and all the way down my arm to thumb. I will try to ease up more and see how things go. As for the shoulder, I hurt it just last week and have not tried yoga since then. Not one to head to the doctor right away. Right now, working with my massage therapist and body worker on these issues. Body worker feels I look good but I am nervous to head back. I feel the benefits of yoga in my joints and in other ways throughout my body, but meanwhile feel like I am doing harm to my neck-- not something to mess with--and worried about my shoulder. Ok, thank you for your insights.
CarolynH
Carolyn - we all get a little scared about the neck! Of course that's a recipe for disaster as the fear not only makes it more real, it makes the neck muscles tighten. You may indeed be pushing yourself too hard if you feel pain but don't jump ship on your hot yoga practice altogether: let the heat and the poses allow more stretch and opening of those muscles and neck discs.
There is a vast difference between effort and struggle. Effort is about following the instructions and giving 100% attention doing the poses to the best of your ability - and that always rewards you. Struggle is about pushing yourself to feel pain and thinking it's some kind of heroic reward. Be about effort and let go of the struggle. A wise person once told me it's like being in a canoe and paddling upstream; you go further faster if you go with the flow which in this case are the instructions of the hot yoga poses.
Remember to anchor your shoulder by pulling down and locking in before you lift your arms overhead and to continue anchoring while the arms lock behind your ears; press the palms and lock those elbows in Ardha Chandrasana, Tuladandasana, Ardha Kurmasana, Trikonasana and more. For the neck, always relax the head back gently in backbends including Camel and in other poses like Pranayama;- let your eyes travel way back down the back wall and your head/neck will follow.
The heat, the poses acting like tourniquets, the resulting increased blood flow to the entire body - these are healing elements of hot yoga. Come out of the cold and into the heat and see your healing progress steadily.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
Hi Carolyn...I'm also a fellow student and teacher at Riverflow. I too have a neck issue (herniated disc from a snowboarding accident) and was also irritating it in hot yoga until I put into practice more of the instructions the teachers offered.
Anytime you do a backbend where you drop your head back, first, inhale and lift your chest up and keep your chest lifted as you slowly drop you head back and then go deep. Lifting the chest and neck creates space so you can round backward rather than crush the discs.
Also, I caught myself throwing my head around (to get my pony tail out of my face) after the sit-ups which would cause me neck and shoulder pain. I have no shoulder injuries--but the neck pain can trigger other related parts if irritated enough. So next time you practice, really be aware of moving your head--no sudden movements and no neck rolling.
Hope this helps!
Laura
No neck rolling - love this advice. So many people are told to roll the head around and I have to admit, that can feel good initially....but rolling is best for the ball joints of the body: wrists, ankles, arms at the shoulder girdle...while the neck is a series of vertebrae stacked on soft, squishy discs. The best neck opening movements are side to side, ear to shoulder, and up and down (or forward and backward) - to fluff-up those pillowy discs between the bones. Good advice, Laura, on lifting the chest before, even during a backbend - thus creating space between the lower vertebrae to avoid crushing the lower back (that lower-back achy feeling after a backbend means you weren't lifted enough).
Rhonda
Every now and then I get a tightness on the right side of my neck that causes a migraine-like headache. I felt it coming on yesterday.
My cure: 15 minutes on the Migun bed followed by hot yoga class. The headache is gone during hot yoga but it does come back when I leave the studio; fortunately I go right to sleep as it is evening hot yoga and in the morning, the headache is gone.
Great cure for headaches which are, by the way, awful to have. Migraine sufferers, you have my sympathies, and you must try this hot cure. I know headaches often have something to do with contricted blood flow to the head/neck areas and of course, hot yoga dilates the blood vessels so it makes sense that it helps alleviate headaches of all kinds.
Rhonda Uretzky, E-RYT
I agree Rhonda that bringing more blood flow to the head and neck may alleviate headaches, therefore it makes sense that your headache will be gone during class.
My migranes are caused by stress and lack of sleep. In college, they were so bad i didnt think i was ever going to make it through. I don't get them often now but when i do, I'm down for the count.
When I first started my hot yoga practice, I did get them. I think it was a combination of my body getting acclimated to the heat, being a newbie and learning how to prepare/hydrate for class. Since i now have a regular practice and I'm learning all the de-stressing tools and dynamics in TT, I can't remember the last time i had one!
TinaA
I have also suffered from migraines. I think aside from the hot room and it’s effects, the mental effects are stronger for me. When I feel stressed or angry is when I can feel the headache coming on. If I get myself to class and allow myself to feel good and peaceful. I’ll be good. If I wake up with a migraine, I can’t even make it to class. I’m happy to say the headaches are much less since doing this yoga and now TT.
I’d like to add that I continued Hot Yoga all thru chemo. There were days that seemed like going to yoga was the worst idea but it NEVER was! I believe it helped keep my heart strong and my breathing normal. Chemo drugs can be cardio & pulmonary toxic. The heat, stretching and increased circulation helped get the drugs out of my system and minimized neuropathy in my hands and feet. It gave me energy and I FELT healthy.
I had also had surgery so I have scars. The Hot Yoga in combination with massage helped me prevent scar adhesions. I returned to full range of motion in my arms and neck.
I have 1/2 the normal amount of lymph nodes in my left arm. Against the advice of a few medical professionals I continued Hot Yoga( I don’ t think most understand it). I have found when I DON’T do yoga for more than 3 days my arm will become achey. Gabrielle Ruiz also mentions in her book that many people she has had as students have improved lymph drainage with Hot Yoga.
I wouldn’t recommend starting Hot Yoga right after surgery or during chemo for most people but I strongly believe that if you have health issues and this has been your practice, KEEP IT your practice. You will feel better and thankful you did. I’ve only mentioned the physical benefits I felt. Anyone could feel more and the mental benefits are just as strong and numerous.
Jeanne
If you have any illnesses, injuries or other limitations ask us about it here. The biggest fear we hear about doing yoga: "I'm not flexible." Welcome to Riverflow - together, we're about to bend that reality back into shape.