Asthma and Hot Yoga

[yackiejackie]

#1762

What has been anyone’s experience with Hot Yoga and Asthma. I’m talking about being in the proper Hot Yoga environment with the newer state of the art heating and humidity systems with the fresh air exchange.

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#6762

Hi Jackie

By and large the experience is good for asthmatics. Especially if the air exchange systems are good. The humidity in the air really brings ease to your breathing. I hope others with asthma can share their experiences. I have only anecdotal evidence from my students.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[Alyssa726]

#6800

my teacher trainer claims that hot yoga cured his asthma! as i understand, there are two types of asthma and i am not sure which one this is relevant to, but pulling the arms close to your body and down towards the ground during eagle pose allegedly helps to open everything up. so if you have asthma, eagle is your pose!

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#6803

Hi Alyssa

Hmmm. Eagle eh? I get the sense that most people pulling their arms down is less of a chest or lung opening pose than many others. The poses with arms over head tend to be the ones that create that opening especially with precision alignment techniques employed. The classic Bikram pose that is referred to for asthma is Tuladandasana. But there are others that have a similar pose mechanism.

Actually I don’t think that anyone’s asthma would be cured if they were to only do Eagle pose! 😉 There has to be a balance in approach and that’s why we have a series of poses. I think the yoga has a holistic effect of creating better systemic function.

Anyway just thought I’d throw that into the ring.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[Alyssa726]

#6804

Interesting ideas, and since I have never suffered from asthma I cannot speak from experience. I hope I remember to ask my teacher trainer about this next time I see him. It was something to do with the little tubes in the chest (very technical terminology I am using here) and how pulling the arms down opened them up.

Looking forward to reading responses from people who have or have had asthma!

[dsahm]

#7186

I’m looking forward to the day when Bikram Yoga starts to ease my asthma!!! There are many days when my allergies are really bothering me that breathing through my nose is very difficult. However, it’s those days that I often have my best practices because I stay so focused and mindful of my breathing.

Where I find I struggle though, is in the floor series. The second part of Locust pose is the worst…pushing down into my arms, not so bad; it’s the pressure on my chest when I press down into my shoulders where I seem to end up on the verge of a full asthma attack!! On bad days, no amount of mindful breathing seems to help…ugh!!

Locust will conquer over the asthma!!! I know it will…just hope it’s sooner than later….LOL!!!

[Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)]

#7187

Hi Dana

Try this different mindset to see if this changes anything for you. Rather than trying to push your shoulders into the floor, try pressing your heart into the floor. Often what happens is there’s too much compression between the shoulder area (as they move inward rather than outward).

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

[dsahm]

#7207

Gabrielle….

Thanks so much for your comments. What a difference that makes! I’ve also become more mindful of not letting my shoulders pinch together during other compression poses. I have now made it through a couple classes without even a hit of an oncoming asthma attach!!!

[Pamela0414]

#8191

I have been practicing for a while now and just found out I have exercise induced asthma. I am so relieved to have an answer cause I seriously couldn’t breathe in class and thought I was just a wimp with the heat. Now I am taking some medication and they got a new commercial humidifier and class was great! In the past I could never do the final breathing and now I can. I am not happy to have asthma, but I am happy to have an answer.

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