hydration is key!

Hydration is key

“Make sure you drink lots of water.” You hear this tip frequently, whether you’re training for a race, practicing yoga in heated rooms, or simply maintaining a healthy life.

The statement itself sounds simple enough, but we often notice dehydrated students in our classes...especially newer students.

• What is the best way to hydrate? 
• How do you know if you’ve had enough water? 
• What are the key signs to look out for to avoid dehydration?

Tiredness, dizziness, cramped muscles, or no sweat – even in our incredibly hot room – are a few symptoms of dehydration. For yoga newbies, it’s totally acceptable to require a few classes for your body to acclimate to the heat, but the continued struggle can be a sign of not enough water.

Prepping for Your Hot Yoga Class

Enter the hot yoga studio already properly hydrated. It’s simply too hard to do it once you’re already in the room, as it takes your body about 45 minutes to process water. Hydration before yoga is essential to avoiding stiffness and cramping. Ideally, the bottle you bring will simply be for refreshment.  Then, make absolutely sure that you hydrate after class. I know many of you lead busy lives and are running off to the next thing after class, but don’t ditch that water bottle! Nutritionists recommend drinking at least 20 ounces of water after class to replace the fluids you burned off during class.

Sneaky Tips to Getting the Right Hydration for Hot Yoga

When practicing hot yoga, you simply cannot hydrate properly with water alone; you need the right balance of water and electrolytes.  There are dozens of electrolyte products out there but coconut water, cannot be beaten! With five key electrolytes, along with vitamins and potassium, it’s an ideal alternative. In fact, coconut water is so similar to blood plasma that it can be used as intravenous fluid in emergency transfusions – crazy, right?

I want to challenge each of you to embark on your own personal hydration challenge. Sip on water all day, even when you don’t feel thirsty. Fill your reusable bottle as soon as you finish it. Slowly drink a bottle of water over the course of the hour leading up to yoga class. And drink another in the 30 minutes after class. Stock up on produce high in water volume. Give it a week and see how your yoga practice is transformed!

Our leadership team is well trained and highly skilled to work with raw beginners, intermediate and advanced beginners as well.  Just show up with a yoga mat, towel, hydration and an open mind and we'll do the rest!  If you don't have these items, we have them to rent and for sale at the studios. 

Now that you're in the 'KNOW' the next thing you need to do is get into the studio!  Grab your new student special here and schedule your first yoga class!  You will have questions and we've got answers and solutions!  Our leadership team is here for you!  Be sure to check out the beginner video on this page.  Ask questions...email us at feelgratitudeyoga@gmail.com 

Beginning the practice of yoga may be one of the single most important things you can do to bring a sense of joy, peace, and equanimity to your life.  We salute you for your good faith intention to begin this journey with Gratitude.  Remember, everyone was once new!  Check out the instructional yoga video on this page for 'how to' and helpful info on the yoga postures. 

It's not going to be easy, simply because nothing in life responds or grows in an easy environment, but we can guarantee that it will be so very much worth it and you can do it!

There are a few things that we feel will set you up sweetly so in no time at all, you'll feel like a pro!