Why hot yoga should carry a health warning

Bikram yoga — done in heated rooms — has never been trendier. But it can leave you in agony ...

AS Cheryl MacDonald pushed open the door of the yoga studio, the heat hit her l i ke a furnace. Inside, 30 people — men bare-chested in shorts, women in swimsuits, micro shorts and cropped tops — were limbering up, their faces red and shiny.

Within minutes Cheryl, 35, was dripping from every pore and struggling to breathe in the 43c heat. Turning to lift one leg into a pose, she felt the splash of someone else’s sweat on her arm, gritted her teeth and, following the Bikram yoga teacher’s shouted instructions, locked her standing knee straight.

That’s when she heard the pop of cartilage, felt a stab of intense pain and collapsed on her rubber mat in agony.

‘I staggered home with a knee the size of a watermelon,’ she says. ‘It was days before the pain subsided and months before my knee properly recovered.’

As a qualified yoga instructor (she is the founder of the YogaBellies chain for pregnant women and new mothers), Cheryl knew Bikram could be risky, but says she was caught up in the adrenalinefuelled atmosphere, distracted by the heat and trying to focus on the teacher’s detailed instructions.

The Glasgow businesswoman is certainly not alone. In his book on extreme yoga, Hell-Bent, Benjamin Lorr says that in classes he attended, serious pain was common and blackouts and hallucinations not unusual.

Class members routinely went to chiropractors to have ribs ‘popped back in’ after being forced out of alignment by extreme positions.

So, what makes this intense — and sometimes uncomfortable — form of exercise so popular?

Bikram or ‘hot’ yoga was popularised in America in the Seventies by Bikram Choudhury, now 69. It is beloved by lithe celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston, Madonna, Demi Moore and Gwyneth Paltrow, and sports stars, including David Beckham and Andy Murray.

A classic Bikram class is heated to at least 40c, with humidity at 40 per cent, and lasts 90 minutes.

An instructor guides the class through 26 yoga postures and t wo breathing exercises, working from a script. This type of yoga is f amously tough, but simple enough to appeal to people who don’t know a lotus pose from a downward-facing dog.

Choudhury once said: ‘If someone comes to my class for the first time, I say: “Welcome to Bikram’s torture chamber to kill yourself for the next 90 minutes.” ’

HALF a million people in Britain practise yoga regularly, and thousands attend Bikram classes. They are drawn by the simple style, without the chanting or meditation of other forms of yoga, and the promise of fast results — it can burn up to 800 calories per session.

for those who can cope with the high temperature, the heat and exertion combine to stimulate the body to release endorphins, which numb pain and make you feel good. This ‘ Bikram buzz’ sees hardcore fans competing to attend for a full month at a time.

The heat’s biggest plus point is that it softens stiff joints, allowing people to achieve otherwise impossible positions.

This is what concerns some doctors, as it can increase the risk of injury, especially for novices.

‘The biggest problem we see is muscle tears, especially the hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh,’ says Simon Moyes, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at London Bridge Hospital.

Physiotherapists warn that the ‘sit-up’ pose (bending forwards to put your head on your knees with straight legs) is particularly tough on hamstrings, while the fiendish ‘toe stand pose’ (a single-legged squat on one tip-toe) can exert huge pressure on the kneecap.

Though these are part of many forms of yoga, they can cause problems if pushed too hard or held for too long.

The highly charged, almost competitive nature of a typical Bikram class, coupled with the heat, can massively increase the chance that people will push past their natural limits.

‘The heat of Bikram can make people less cautious and more likely to stretch their muscles and ligaments too far,’ says Moyes.

‘I always warn to be wary of teachers who encourage you to push through the pain or insist no one can leave once the class has started — that’s just insane.’

The heat can l ead to other problems, too.

Holding difficult poses for up to a minute can be extremely challenging for your heart and lungs.

This creates internal heat, which the body struggles to control in a Bikram session as natural cooling mechanisms (sweating, redness) are rendered less effective in an over-heated room.

The result can be dizziness and nausea as your body edges towards heat exhaustion.

Scottish yoga- l over Simone Garner, 39, was encouraged to try a Bikram class near her home town of Ayr, to ease her rheumatoid arthritis.

‘Within minutes I thought I was going to pass out with the heat, but I forced myself to keep going through waves of nausea,’ says Simone, mother to three girls aged ten, eight and six.

‘I spent ages in a cool shower after the class trying to bring my core temperature down, but my heart wouldn’t stop racing and for the rest of the day I felt I might be sick at any moment. I was completely disorientated.’

Bikram practitioners say this reaction is not unusual and something you will get used to.

Most studios only sell block bookings at a special price to new customers (20 consecutive days for just £35) to encourage them to keep coming until they learn to cope. Olga Allon, who runs Hot Bikram Yoga in London, says: ‘The first few classes are always tough. But after two or three sessions people’s bodies seem to crave it.’

However, sweating can lead to dehydration, decreased blood pressure and raised heart rate.

A good studio will screen people for health problems and warn of the dangers, but a teacher in a packed room may not notice if someone is having trouble.

MILLA Basmakova-Nielsen , a 30-yearold translation service editor from London, had been going to yoga classes for four years when she decided to try Bikram in 2011.

She managed the first five poses, but then began to feel dizzy and unwell. ‘It was as if I was sinking under water,’ she remembers with a shudder.

By the seventh pose her vision was blurred and she fainted. Back at home, Milla couldn’t shake off a headache, and went to her GP. He said her blood pressure had dropped, which could have been caused by over- heating. He advised plenty of water and rest.

‘The headaches continued for nearly a month,’ says Milla. ‘Yoga is challenging, but to do it Bikram style was too much for my body.’

There may be other dangers lurking in some studios. Warm, moist environments can be a breeding ground for athlete’s foot, ringworm and verrucas.

Bacteria can survive for days on a yoga mat or floor, and viruses can linger for weeks.

However, Olga Allon i nsists Bikram has huge benefits for normal people trying to get fit.

‘I see hundreds of people coming through our doors on a regular basis and I rarely see any injuries occur in a class,’ she says.

‘In fact, most people come with injuries from other sports and exercise and use Bikram yoga as a way to recuperate.

‘Bikram yoga is like all other exercise. If you are not careful, an injury can occur.

‘But I would argue that if you look at the numbers, Bikram causes fewer injuries than most forms of exercise and possibly other, more intense forms of yoga.’

But many fans are switching to gentler, cooler classes.

Michele Pernetta, who brought Bikram to Britain from Los Angeles in the Nineties, has founded fierce Grace yoga, which offers cool versions and a range of intensity levels.

Her studio in London’s Primrose Hill is a favourite with Billie Piper and her husband Laurence fox.

‘These days, hot yoga teachers are encouraged to teach modified poses to people with injuries or bad backs,’ says Michele.

‘As I’ve got older I’ve found that I don’t want to be too hot, and I don’t want someone shouting at me,’ she says.

If you can cope without the ‘Bikram buzz’, there may be less brutal ways of achieving lean, toned muscles without risking your health.