Some like it hot to really warm up the muscles

For years, I have extolled the wonders of a hot yoga practice. I like the heat. Practicing yoga with cold muscles always has been a challenge for me and one that I have worked through in an effort to enhance my practice in general. But when it comes down to my choice of how I want to do yoga, it is in the heat.

Bear in mind that I am not referring to the Bikram series of yoga, which is a 26-pose sequence done the same way every time. A lot of people love it. Evidently, it is the new, hot thing (pun intended) in Tel Aviv. But it bores me to tears and doesn't do much for the arms. It is also heavy on backbending, which is not my forte, and that also might have something to do with it. I'm not sure.

I was reminded of my love for sweaty, intense yoga when I did a practice on my own in the back room of Masters Studios on Tuesday afternoon. It was so humid outside, right before the big rain came, and the windows were open. This time, I had my mat with me, since it lives in the back of my Jeep, so I was able to practice on the mat this time. As I started running through my sun salutations, I could feel the sweat starting to run down my back, and I found myself smiling. Sweaty yoga is so my thing. Every drop of sweat that hit my mat made me smile again. It was like introducing two old friends: "Sweat, please meet my Maha yoga mat. Maha yoga mat, please meet Sweat." They seemed to like each other.

I know that, most often, people like to stretch before they exercise. I see them all the time, at the base of the Ravenel Bridge, folding forward to loosen hamstrings, making circles with their ankles, reaching back to grab a foot to stretch quadriceps. And that's all fine. But the real stretch — the good, deep, satisfying stretch — can come only when your muscles are already warmed up.

I like to cut out the middle-man. I like to start warm and go from there. When I was teaching in a studio, I always had the room a tad warmer than protocol officially allowed. For a regular Suzanne class, I liked it to be between 85 and 90 degrees. For the Monday night sweat-fest called Hot Yoga Flow, I pushed it as high as I could get it. A friend of mine bought me an outdoor thermometer because the one in the studio didn't register over 99 degrees, and we were all kind of curious how hot I would let it get before I would relent and turn on the air conditioning (although, thinking back, I don't think I ever did that). I would, sometimes, turn the heaters off, though.

There is a method to my madness. Yes, I like the heat. But beyond that, there is some real logic. When your muscles start out warm, they are more likely to stretch than tear if you push yourself deep into a yoga posture. Injuries are far less common. Ask anyone who has ever had a groin pull, and they will tell you that it is far better to bend than it is to break. When you begin with warm muscles, you can get yourself deeper into poses than you ever imagined you could, and then you get to leave the class with an amazing feeling of self-satisfaction.

Then there is the added bonus of extreme giddiness. An intense practice done in hot, hot heat makes you a little goofy, and you find yourself willing to try things that you thought only Gumby could accomplish when your mind was set on what you can do in a colder room.

Hang-ups get thrown out the window and you just sort of go with the flow because your brain is kind of mushy from the heat. No drugs required. A high that is legal. And it is good for you, too!

If you prefer to practice in more moderate temperatures, then that is cool, too (again, pun intended). Whatever floats your boat. Mine floats on sweat, but what is right for me isn't right for everyone. Just get on the mat.

Suzanne Gannon is a yoga instructor in the Charleston area. Reach her at suzygannonyoga@yahoo.com.