I met Bikram in 1970 while in the Navy and stationed in Japan. I went to his apartment in Toyko for private lessons and still practice to this very day. I found out about him when Ravi Shankar came to Toyko and Bikram had an ad in the program guide.
Pete Monsen here: Hi Jimmy exactly right on the heat. The heat can be a facilitator or a debilitator! I have gotten the heat up to 125F, in the winters in N.Y. with the humidity being 10 % with a cold front in. It is very comfortably hot. the humidity works inversely to the heat. If It's too humid, the sweat cannot evaporate off the body to cool it, so the sweat becomes an insulator, making you even more hot. I like 40 % humidity with the heat at 100.
I remember when doing your TT at your studio in Fort Lauderdale and my first classes there. I was dying because I was not used to this heat and humidity. But after each class I thought “that’s how it should be” The heat and humidity is so important in Hot Yoga, doing the flow and standing postures and then lying on the mat afterwards doing the floor poses and Savasana. That’s where the magic happens 🙏
Hi, I am new to hot yoga. I am also a 53 year old ultra runner. The heat accumulation process is what actually attracted me to hot yoga, haha now I’m addicted:) I am really struggling with the high humidity days. The studio I go to maintains 105F and I find myself in survival mode on high humidity day. In these instances, I resort to survival tactics I use in running by sucking on ice cubes, and rubbing ice cubes on my face. Would you consider these tactics to be negatively affecting my yoga progression? I feel like I shouldn’t do it, but I also feel like if I know my limitations. Thanks!
