Turning up the heat

Hi!  I am really excited to start this blog.  As a health coach, I work with people on reaching their goals, fullest potentials and feeling their best!  I will be posting ALL different things that I think are important and valuable for a healthy and happy life.  There are so many things that I want to share with you but I am going to begin with my greatest health secret.... BIKRAM YOGA!

Bikram yoga is amazing.  Whenever I tell people I teach and practice Bikram I usually get "Is that the really hot one?" Yes, it is.  Bikram yoga is done in 105 degree room with typically 40% humidity.  For this reason alone, it can be extremely intimidating.  I am going to be posting many blogs about Bikram but today I want to focus on why the room conditions are the way they are.  Here are 7 reasons for the heat:

Bikram and his wife, Rajashree when Bikram
yoga was newly founded.

1.  Burns fat more easily.  Warmed muscles burn fat more easily than cold ones. Fat is released during stress. The stress of intense exercise causes a deluge of fatty acids into the blood stream. If you exercise with cold muscles, they can't use the fatty acids and they end up in places where they aren't wanted, such as in the lining of your arteries.

2.  Speeds up the breakdown of glucose on fatty acids.

3.  Makes muscles more elastic, less susceptible to injury.

4.  Improves coordination.

5.  Allows oxygen in the blood to detach from the hemoglobin more easily.  When blood passes through warm muscles, oxygen releases more easily from the hemoglobin. Blood passing through cold muscles release less oxygen.

6.  Reduces heart irregularities associated with sudden exercise.

7.  Vasolidation - The increase in the internal diameter of a blood vessel that results from relaxation of smooth muscle within the wall of the vessel. This causes an increase in blood flow.


It doesn't say it in the list, but I would like to add that the heat also adds to the mental aspect of the yoga.  Yoga means union between mind and body.  When you are on your mat you are working to calm your mind down in order to slow your body (heart rate).  The heat will mentally challenge you, therefor making you work harder to remain calm.  Sitting in traffic, stress from your boss, not getting enough sleep are all things that we mentally hem and haw over and detriment us physically.  Remaining calm in the hot room with the heat will help you find and keep your cool on and off the mat.

Namaste!

Mother Nature's Health
http://www.followmothernature.com/