Every time I walk into a hot Bikram yoga studio, I ask myself, “Why am I doing this?” The heat is turned up to a sweltering 105 degrees F with 40% humidity. Within 15 minutes of holding the postures in the heat, my heart is racing and sweat is dripping onto my mat. Then, after the 90-minute class is over, I walk out of the studio, feeling physically and mentally humbled, at peace and anew.
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Can Hot Yoga Help With Depression?
There are many aspects of a Bikram class that I don’t necessarily enjoy during the session, yet I can’t deny how good I feel afterwards. Most noticeably, my mood dramatically improves. Recent research suggests that hot yoga actually helps with depression.
In a recent randomized control trial, Harvard Medical School researchers randomly assigned 65 adults with moderate-to-severe depression into two groups. One group of people was expected to attend two, 90-minute Bikram yoga classes per week for eight weeks at local yoga studios. The other group was placed on a waiting list for eight weeks. Even if people averaged only one yoga class per week, they significantly reduced depression symptoms by the end of the study. Nearly 60% of participants experienced a 50% reduction in symptoms, and 44% were considered to be in remission.
Maren Nyer, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and principal investigator on the clinical trial, says that these results are promising for those struggling with depression. She says that if you’re depressed and are running into roadblocks while trying to get into therapy, like waitlists and insurance issues, then it might be worthwhile to give hot yoga a try.
[READ: Activities to Help Fight Depression.]
Medication vs. Yoga for Depression
According to a 2023 Gallup poll, 29% of U.S. adults report having been diagnosed with depression at some point in their lifetime. While antidepressants are necessary for some, Nyer says that they are only effective for about half of patients and can have negative side effects.
Nyer says that antidepressants can save lives, “but there’s a large population of people that don’t respond, and then they come with side effects.”
Based on recent research, it’s possible that making hot yoga a regular part of your schedule could boost your mood without the side effects of medication. However, if you’re experiencing a mental health crisis, make sure to get professional help immediately. You can reach the suicide and crisis lifeline by calling or texting 988.
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How Does Hot Yoga Affect the Body and Brain?
Similar to antidepressant medication, Nyer says it is not clear why hot yoga helps with depression. However, there are several mechanisms that might explain the mental health benefits of hot yoga, including:
— Heat exposure activates specific brain pathways that reduce depression.
— Heat helps with thermoregulation.
— Whole-body hyperthermia builds resilience to stress.
— Concentration helps avoid rumination.
Heat exposure activates specific brain pathways that reduce depression
Dr. Charles Raison is a professor of human ecology and psychiatry in the department of psychiatry in the School of Medicine and Public health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He published a clinical trial on whole-body hyperthermia, which is exposing the body to a heat higher than regular body temperature, for the treatment of major depressive disorder. The study found that participants experienced antidepressant effects six weeks after just one treatment of heat exposure.
“If you look at yoga, it’s pretty crazy,” Raison says. “Why do people voluntarily go to yoga in a miserably hot place? The answer is because heat is an antidepressant. Time-limited exposure to high heat like what happens in hot yoga, and a sauna and a steam room, causes activation in the body through a couple of pathways that signals to the brain that makes the brain feel less depressed,” says Raison
While more research needs to be done to understand how hot you need to get, the duration of time you need to be heated and how frequently you need to be in the heat to experience the benefits, there is good evidence to show heat does help those who suffer from depression.
I have always enjoyed heat, whether it’s in a hot yoga, sauna or hot tub. Unlike other methods of heat exposure, hot yoga demands that I stay in the heated room for a full 90 minutes. The class keeps my mind more occupied and I endure the heat longer.
Heat helps with thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is your body’s way of maintaining a steady internal body temperature. According to Raison, there is compelling evidence that suggests people who are depressed tend to have slightly higher internal body temperatures. Their internal thermostat is broken, and they have difficulty sweating to cool off effectively.
When you experience heat in hot yoga, you raise your internal body temperature. After the yoga class, your body has a compensatory response to heat, and your body temperature cools down. The heat helps reset your internal thermostat.
About an hour after I finish a hot yoga class, I feel more at ease and cooler. It is especially noticeable on hot, summer days when it’s more challenging to cool off in general.
Whole-body hyperthermia builds resilience to stress
When I finish a hot yoga class, I feel a sense of accomplishment. Similar to working out, hot yoga provides a level of physical challenge along with mental strength, that you slowly build-up a tolerance to.
Raison defines treatments like whole-body hyperthermia, exercise and cold exposure as adaptive stressors. This means you’re willfully activating your stress system and over time, you build up a resilience to stress. It is a similar process as lifting weights; you are breaking down the muscles to build them up stronger.
Concentration helps avoid rumination
According to Nyer, another theory that might explain why hot yoga helps with depression is because it requires concentration. This is particularly helpful to avoid rumination, which is a symptom of depression. Rumination involves repetitive thinking or dwelling on negative feelings and distress and their causes and consequences. The repetitive, negative aspect of rumination can contribute to the development of depression or anxiety and can worsen existing conditions.
I find hot yoga demands that I have a single-minded focus on my breath, form and on my balance. If my mind wanders, I will fall out of the pose or miss the teacher’s instructions.
What Is Hot Bikram Yoga?
Bikram yoga is also known as “26 and 2.” You can expect the practice to be very similar every time. Practicing hot Bikram yoga consists of:
— 26 postures, bookended by two breathing exercises.
— The same sequence of poses.
— Each pose is practiced for the same duration of time, and the teacher instructs using the same script.
— Consistent temperature and humidity.
— Silent practice, in a studio with mirrors at the front of the room.
Despite the consistent routine of a Bikram class, the teacher can make a big difference in your experience.
The sequence of postures can be broken down into sections. Similarly to a high intensity interval training or HIIT workout, you alternate hard efforts with easy ones:
— Starts with a standing side stretch, backbend and a forward-fold.
— Next, you practice three variations of a squat.
— Then, there’s four balancing postures followed by a symmetrical, forward-fold while in a wide stance facing the side of your mat. You proceed to practice two more standing postures and a balancing hip-opener.
— Then you lie down on your mat for a savasana or a rest pose. From this point on in the class, you practice savasana in between each pose.
— While supine, you practice two poses, bending one knee at a time towards your chest, then both at the same time.
— You do a sit-up before turning around and lying face down to execute four backbends on the belly.
— That is followed by a series of four poses on your knees where you alternate arching and rounding your spine.
— Then you practice two seated forward folds, and a seated twist.
Each posture is practiced twice, except for the seated twist at the end. Poses are held for as long as 60 seconds.
Benefits and Drawbacks of Hot Bikram Yoga
There are additional benefits to hot yoga, outside of the mental health benefits:
— I personally enjoy repetition and have found tremendous progress in my poses and flexibility.
— Hot yoga can be a great no impact cross-training for aerobic exercise such as running.
— Bikram yoga can be beneficial for people with all levels of experience. While the standard Bikram sequence of poses is considered a beginner-level class, it can also be very challenging depending on how you approach it.
— The challenging nature of Bikram yoga creates a sense of accomplishment when you do complete a class.
Bikram yoga is different from any other style in instruction, alignment principles and mental challenge from the heat, which is why I enjoy it. As someone who practices a lot of yoga, I find it interesting to hear and practice a different perspective. As long as you listen to your body and do not push into pain, it can be a very beneficial practice.
There are some drawbacks to hot Bikram yoga to be aware of:
— The extreme redundancy in a Bikram class can get monotonous, and I need to mix up my practice with other styles of yoga or exercise.
— The script that accompanies each pose often lacks clear or confusing physical landmarks, modifications and remedial poses.
Bikram yoga also has a dark history involving body shaming and bullying that are rooted back to the founder, Bikram Choudhury. While most Bikram studios have evolved and broke away from Choudhoury, some teachers still operate with undertones that are representative of Bikram himself.
Nyer, who studies hot yoga’s health benefits, makes the experience more comfortable and welcoming by conducting pre-yoga consultations. She helps students learn healthy yoga habits: what to wear in the hot yoga studio, what to expect for the time commitment and heat acclimation period and how to hydrate in advance of the class.
With these things in mind, hot yoga is worth a try, especially if you are struggling with depression.
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Hot Yoga for Depression originally appeared on usnews.com
