Hot yoga, saunas put a new face on winter

 

By Janet Arnold-Grych

Devotees of Bikram yoga will tell you their practice offers sweat and more. Practiced in a room heated to around 105 F, Bikram yoga consists of a 90-minute sequence of 26 yoga poses created by Bikram Choudhury in 1974. While the practice has flourished in other parts of the U.S. for years, Milwaukee welcomed its first official studio last February: Bikram Yoga Milwaukee.

The studio’s owner/director, Bron Gacki, is a Midwest native who grew up in the Chicago area. Gacki was pleasantly surprised to find the practice was embraced quickly. “I thought Milwaukee would be the type of city that would take time to warm up to the idea of Bikram’s Hot Yoga method (plenty of pun intended),” says a jovial Gacki. “But what I noticed was that it wasn’t the granola-eating, hippie, vegetarian crowd that was showing up; we have students from the ages of 12 to 81, from doctors and CEOs to carpenters and painters to students and retirees. The one common element among this diverse crowd is that they are people who want to improve themselves mentally and physically.”  And, of course, sweat.

The windows lining the large studio are often fogged by the heat of the room and the heat of the bodies in it. Gacki says that there are very specific reasons for the heat. “First, it aids in detoxification through the sweating that occurs,” says Gacki. “Second, it provides a safer environment for the yogis to perform these postures. When the muscles and joints are warm, there is a significantly reduced risk of pulling muscles or damaging joints. And third, the heat acts as a catalyst for the benefits you receive from the class. Our bodies are just a series of chemical reactions and fluid/nutrient/oxygen transfers. When you add heat to any chemical reaction, it just happens much more quickly. This aids in the distribution of oxygen through your body, waking up every muscle, tissue, organ, gland and cell in your body.”

One of the students you’re likely to see in class is Dr. Kim Saxe, a naturopathic doctor with practices in West Allis and Milwaukee.  Dr. Saxe says that she does Bikram four times a week and recommends the practice to nearly all her patients. “Bikram can be a good potential healer for many conditions,” says Saxe. “It’s wonderful for improving circulation to all areas of the body. It can lower blood pressure and cholesterol. I’ve seen people with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia benefit even though they thought they couldn’t do it. It’s also a fabulous tool for stress reduction, anxiety and depression.”

Other yoga studios around town offer the heat but not the specific 26-pose Bikram sequence. Meg Galarza, owner/director of YogaOne in Cedarburg says that the studio has offered hot yoga since last January and that students either like the heat or don’t — there’s rarely middle ground. “It is definitely more popular in the winter than summer,” says Galarza. “But there are some true diehards that love it on the hottest of summer days.”

Dean Farrell teaches hot yoga at downtown Milwaukee’s YamaYoga. “Some students are skeptical about coming to a hot yoga class,” says Farrell. “The most common comment I hear is ‘That is too hot for me!’ My response is usually, ‘You’ll be surprised how you feel after practice!’ Usually after a cautious student takes the class, I see them on a regular basis.”

Hot yoga is not necessarily Bikram yoga, and the room at a hot yoga class may be 20 degrees lower; around 85 F. Teachers of hot yoga claim that difference in temperature is key; the yoga practitioner’s body is allowed to warm up more slowly to meet the external temperature, and so the body is actually working a bit harder to get the beneficial sweat.
 

Hot box
If the heat sounds good, but you’re looking for a little less movement, how does a warm oil massage and steam sound? Then an Ayurvedic abyhanga (warm oil massage) and svedana (medicated steam) might be for you.

Ayurveda, yoga’s sister science, holds that each of us has a unique nature, and illness arises when we are out of alignment with that true  nature.  Cheryl Silberman, director and clinical supervisor at Kanyakumari Ayurveda Education and Retreat Center in Milwaukee, says that “ama,” or the build-up of toxins in the tissues, is one of the things that can disrupt alignment of our balanced nature. “Ayurveda views sweating as one of the main ways to remove toxicity from the body  and initiate gentle cleansing,” says Silberman.

During an Ayurvedic massage, the treatment  room and the sesame oil are warmed. The practitioner massages the warm sesame oil into the skin for about an hour. “Sesame oil is quickly absorbed through the pores, coats and soothes  the nerves and reduces stress, diffusing minerals and essential fatty acids such as calcium and linoleic acid,” says Silberman. “The oil’s liquefying properties help to loosen the ama/toxins so it can be removed from the body.” Often, that removal is then  aided by a “svedana” or  sweating therapy.  Following the massage, one is seated in a sweatbox  for five to 20 minutes  in which steam mixes with medicinal herbs. While the body is soothed inside the box, the head remains outside of it, typically wrapped with a cool cloth.

Even hotter heat
If by now you’re saying, “just the heat please,” then a sauna might be the place for you. People around the globe enjoy the warmth and benefits of saunas.

If you think a Bikram room is warm, wait until you step into a dry sauna. Temperatures in this typically small, electrically heated room can get to 190 F and higher, which means your skin temperature can rise to 104 F in a matter of minutes and your pulse rate can increase by 30 percent or more.

The Health Center at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Milwaukee offers a dry sauna and a steam room. Jennifer Ziegler, spa director at the JCC’s Women’s Health Center, says that both the steam room and sauna are popular and offer therapeutic benefits grounded in the cardiovascular response they elicit. “Heat allows more oxygen and nutrients to reach damaged parts of the body, says Ziegler. “It also strengthens the immune system, improves blood circulation, enhances detoxification, offers deep skin cleansing and rejuvenation, and tension and stress relief.”

Much younger than the traditional sauna, the infrared version has been around about 40 years. Infrared saunas use radiant heat to transmit heat to the body. So while it may only be 100 F to 140° F in an infrared sauna, the heat penetrates the tissues more directly and much more sweat is produced. Infrared energy is close to the body’s own radiant energy and is not the same as harmful UV rays. Saxe is a strong proponent of infrared saunas for her patients: “All of the chemicals we are exposed to on a regular basis can potentially be mobilized with infrared. Infrared saunas increase your core body temperature and increase circulation and improve immune function.”

While the high heat can feel comforting, it’s not for everyone. Saxe notes that it’s a good idea to check with your healthcare professional before embarking on a sauna or hot yoga regimen. “I wouldn’t recommend these activities to people with uncontrolled hypertension, and pregnant women or people with bleeding disorders shouldn’t use infrared saunas because of the increased vasodilation*,” says Saxe. “In general, if you feel more exhausted after these therapies, that may be a concern.”
 

Keep it cool
If these superheated activities are for you, you may find their warmth offers more than just a break from the cold. They can provide a whole new outlook, and maybe even a health boost.  Plus, any time you don’t need to add a sweater, it’s easier to gain a little more tolerance and appreciation for our lovely Wisconsin winters.