Experts often disagree about whether a practice room should be warmer or cooler during yoga practice. Some say the extremely warm rooms (90 degrees plus, such as in Bikram Yoga) breed bacteria, while others say practitioners need a warm room to deepen the stretches and prevent injury. My personal choice is to have a room that is on the warmer side but not hot.
The center at which I teach recently decided to place our class in an upstairs space which is seldom used during the day. The heat is turned on shortly before my practioners arrive, and the first part of the class is often a little cooler than we would all like. As we all engage in our stretches and poses, the rooms heats up–thanks to body heat and the actual heating system finally doing its job.
When the room is too cool, I find I cannot deepen the stretches to my liking. I also worry about my practioners hurting themselves. It’s especially important, when it’s cooler, to do an extended warm-up section giving the muscles a chance to warm up despite the real temperature of the classroom.
Keep this in mind when you’re practicing at home, as well. If the room is cool, make sure you do a solid warmup to prevent injury. In the end, yoga is a very personal experience. Listen to your own body, and if it feels as though your body performs at its best in a warmer room, invest in a space heater. Just warming up a room by a few degrees could make a difference.
