Should I Do Hot Yoga When Sick?

Yes, you should absolutely avoid hot yoga when you are sick with a cold, the flu, or any other illness. Attempting to 'sweat out' an illness is a common myth, and in the case of hot yoga, it is both counterproductive for your own health and disrespectful to the health of your community. From a personal health standpoint, your body needs to conserve its energy to fight off the infection. The intense physical exertion and extreme heat of a hot yoga class place a massive demand on your system, diverting resources away from your immune response. Furthermore, the profuse sweating can easily lead to dehydration, which is the last thing your body needs when it's already working overtime. You will likely prolong your illness and feel much worse afterward. From a community health standpoint, a hot, humid, and enclosed yoga studio is a highly effective environment for transmitting germs. By practicing while you are sick, you are exposing everyone else in the room to your illness. The responsible and compassionate choice is to stay home, rest, hydrate, and allow your body to recover fully. The yoga room will be there for you when you are healthy again.