Hot Yoga Proven to Be Anti-Aging
Hot yoga is not for everyone. Heat tolerance varies, but can be improved. The goal of anti-aging is to optimize health, increase longevity, and improve the quality of life in later years. While we can’t completely halt or entirely reverse the natural aging process, the practice of yoga is one of the most potent things you can do to prolong your maximally functional life.
In the international Journal of Yoga, May-Aug 2021 issue exercise scientists from Northern Iowa and the University of New Mexico have proven that there are heart, brain, and cellular benefits to practicing hot yoga, even beyond the benefits that are received from yoga practiced at room temperature.
Heat exposure improves a body’s tolerance of stress, and improves how the body’s stress hormone responses can adapt.
Hot-temperature yoga (HY) combines mindfulness, and breathwork along with the exercise. The combination may significantly contribute to the antiaging affects of hot yoga. The added heat component in HY may induce cardiovascular and cellular changes, along with neural benefits and modulation of stress hormones.
Both male and female yogis had intensive monitoring including blood testing, heat tolerance testing, aerobic fitness testing, brain, and hormone responses to exercise, before and after 4 weeks of hot yoga practice.
Twelve sessions of HY promoted cardiovascular fitness and cellular thermotolerance adaptations.
Blood plasma volume will expand during exposure to heat and this can contribute to some of the heart fitness effects.
Cellular function improvements were studied with sophisticated measurements of heat shock proteins.
Brain function benefits were studied by looking at levels something called BDNF, a favorable growth factor for our brain tissue, that promotes integrity of brain nerve function.
Health and wellness is a blend of the food we eat, the exercises we do, and the stability of the physiologic systems. At Hatha Yoga and Fitness we support the practice of yoga in many ways, we hope to help you find how yoga can improve your personal wellness journey.
