I attend power vinyassa yoga class where the room temperature is around 90 + degrees. I honestly love attending class, and the way practicing makes me feel mentally. More often than not, during balancing poses, when I reach my hands over my head, I get light headed and dizzy. Is this common? Is there anything I can do to prevent this? Will I get used to the heat? I have been practicing for about a year. When this happens I just want to drink lots of water…but I know I will just sweat it out. Thank you so much for your time. Namaste~
Hi Jess,
In the order of my thoughts:
This should be first asked of the teacher you’ve chosen to teach you. When that is done it provides three things: an opportunity for an answer within the context of your particular practice, an answer within the context of your particular body, and an opportunity to develop an appropriate student-teacher relationship.
Assuming this has already happened…
Getting light headed when coming up from inversions IS fairly common as the body is working to stabilize blood pressure. The same light-headedness in raising the arms over head is not so common and I would suggest keeping your hands in Namaste at the heart center during said poses. If that is not effective in relieving the dizziness then hands on the hips.
Hydration is certainly important in every day living and most of us are not properly hydrated on a daily basis. Of course the hydration requisite is more critical when living in high heat or being very active (or both). Water is more cleansing than hydrating. Please consider taking in at least half your body weight in ounces and splitting your daily consumption between filtered water and filtered water with some added organic lemon juice (fresh when possible). This is baseline and, as example, someone living in Florida and running marathons needs a greater quantity. I personally add Fortune Delight (Sunrider) to my water each day to maintain my level of hydration.
Finally, I wonder what you know about your current BP and whether you’ve been cleared by a health care practitioner for your current level of practice?