WEBVTT - Does Hot Yoga Need to Be So Hot?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, they're

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<v Speaker 1>brain stuff, Lauren Bogo bam here. Some like their yoga

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<v Speaker 1>hot a hundred and five degrees fahrenheit or forty degrees

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<v Speaker 1>celsius to be exact, but according to a study published

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<v Speaker 1>in the journal Experimental Physiology, heat might have nothing to

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<v Speaker 1>do with the style's health benefits. Yoga is an ancient

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<v Speaker 1>Indian practice. It dates back thousands of years. As William J.

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<v Speaker 1>Brad describes in the Science of Yoga The Risks of Rewards.

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<v Speaker 1>Its roots lay in quote an obscure cult steeped in

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<v Speaker 1>magic and eroticism, but the practice has evolved over time,

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<v Speaker 1>reaching the West in the mid nineteenth century and exploding

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<v Speaker 1>in America during the nineteen sixties. Today, you'll find everything

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<v Speaker 1>from spiritual yoga practices that invoke can do traditions to

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<v Speaker 1>secularized models that target everyone from pro wrestling fans to

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<v Speaker 1>death metal heads. And then there's hot yoga, most notably

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<v Speaker 1>Bickram Yoga, founded by Calcutta born Bickram Chowdery in the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen seventies. Bickroom Yoga centers around twenty six poses or

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<v Speaker 1>asanas performed in a precisely heated forty six community studio

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<v Speaker 1>for around ninety minutes of sweaty action. The official Bickram

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<v Speaker 1>Yoga website claims that the heat helps you practice your

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<v Speaker 1>postures optimally. But while critics have previously raised concerns over

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<v Speaker 1>elevated body temperatures, no study has actually isolated the effects

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<v Speaker 1>of heat in the practice. That's according to the authors

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<v Speaker 1>of the aforementioned study, carried out at Texas State University

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<v Speaker 1>and the University of Texas at Austin. They brought in

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<v Speaker 1>eighty study participants, ages forty to sixty, all of whom

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<v Speaker 1>had lived sedentary lifestyles for at least six months following

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<v Speaker 1>health screenings. They randomized the participants into three groups, a

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<v Speaker 1>thermonutral group, a heated group, and a control group. For

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<v Speaker 1>twelve weeks, the heated group attended three Bikram Yoga classes

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<v Speaker 1>a week in a traditional hot room, while the thermoneutral

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<v Speaker 1>group attended the same number of classes only under you

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<v Speaker 1>guessed at room temperature conditions that's seventy three degrees fahrenheit

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<v Speaker 1>or about twenty three degrees celsius. The control group did nothing.

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<v Speaker 1>In the end, fifty of the eighty two subjects completed

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<v Speaker 1>the interventions. And return for follow up testing nineteen hot,

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<v Speaker 1>fourteen thermo neutral, and nineteen control. The researchers compared their

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<v Speaker 1>findings and determined the Bickroom yoga can reduce changes in

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<v Speaker 1>blood vessel lining linked to heart disease, and that it

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<v Speaker 1>can possibly delay the build up of arterial plaque, which

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<v Speaker 1>can lead to heart attack or stroke. But here's the kicker.

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<v Speaker 1>The benefits were present in both the heat and room

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<v Speaker 1>temperature groups, indicating that heated rooms that Bickroom calls torture

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<v Speaker 1>chambers don't actually make a difference. That being said, many

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<v Speaker 1>yoga practitioners do like it hot and sweaty, even amid

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<v Speaker 1>legal scandals surrounding its founder. Bickram Yoga boasts studios around

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<v Speaker 1>the world, and that's in addition to various other non

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<v Speaker 1>affiliated hot yoga styles. If these latest findings hold true, however,

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<v Speaker 1>that hot room might be no more essential to the

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<v Speaker 1>practice than an iPod shuffle full of the traditional Kurton

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<v Speaker 1>music or Campble corpse. Take a pick Today's So It

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<v Speaker 1>was written by Robert Lamb and produced by Tristan McNeil.

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<v Speaker 1>For more on this and lots of other hot topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit our home planet tostof works dot com,