To wipe or not to wipe?

Should we wipe our sweat during hot yoga?

There are so many reasons NOT to wipe sweat off during hot yoga. Sure, you must have a towel (or two) on your mat to catch and soak up the sweat that drips off you. But surrendering to your sweat-slicked body until the end of class is all part of the experience - here’s why.

Heat regulation. Sweat works to cool you down through the process of evaporation. This is why we feel hotter in a humid room - it’s more difficult for the sweat to escape into the already water-logged air. So by constantly drying your skin with a towel, the sweat doesn’t have a chance to evaporate and you a) feel hotter and b) have to keep producing more sweat (aka dehydration). So leave it be.

Stay clean. Sweat has its own antiseptic molecules called Dermcidin, a powerful anti-microbial which functions at the high salt and acidity levels of human sweat. Scientists believe it plays a key role in the innate immune responses of the skin so, if you’re lucky enough to sweat a lot during exercise, enjoy it. Your sweat is helping ward off more than you think!

Chill out! One of the profound gifts of any hot yoga class is the deeply calming effect it can have on the mind. I truly think this comes partly from letting go of the fight, from stopping trying to control everything and just ‘being with’ the experience. When you stop resisting the heat and let go of the distraction of wiping sweat, you sink deeper into the joyful and immersive experience of your hot yoga class. Give it a go - and chill out baby!

Join me on the mat (with towel) for Hot Power Yoga every Monday at 10.30am and Friday at 9.30am at Prana in Oxford.