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You've probably heard of 'hot' yoga by now. Otherwise known as Bikram Yoga, it was developed in Los Angeles by Bikram Choudhury. The yoga classes are held in a 105 degrees room with a high humidity level. Sound like torture to you? Well, torture might be too heavy of a word. There are actually a lot of benefits to sweating...and working out in this sort of environment definitely increases the amount of sweat your body produces. But is it safe? And is it green? These are important questions to ask.
Well, there are definitely benefits to hot yoga, but there are also drawbacks. For instance, the heat helps you to stretch a muscles, but after it’s stretched past a certain degree, you start to damage your muscle. And of course, extreme physical exhaustion is a risk here...after all, you’re working out and pushing your body's limits in intense heat.
While I respect yoga, as an art, exercise, and a spiritual practice, I think it's important to recognize that regular yoga is more green than hot yoga. Heating rooms to this degree requires energy, and cleaning up that much excess sweat also requires additional energy.
The answer? It's summer. Why not do yoga outside in this heat if you want the hot yoga experience? There's no sense in creating heated rooms when we've got natural heat right outside! Remember not to work out for too long, though! Torn muscles aren't fun for anyone.
Craving more green celebrity gossip? Maria Menounos dishes it up on Planet Green TV's Hollywood Green.
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