You should not come to class hungry. Although, it is best not to eat anything heavy 1 to 2 hours before class, but you will want something to fuel you.
Food for Thought.
Love yourself, Look after yourself.
Get the best out of your yoga and your Body.
In Hot Yoga, we talk a lot about hydration. You all, hopefully, know that to have a good class you need to be well hydrated. This means drinking plenty of water and maintaining your electrolyte balance (see FAQ
What about drinking water before class?).
It is equally important to properly feed/fuel your body. You wouldn’t expect beautiful trees to flourish, without sunlight, water and nutrients from the soil, so why would you expect your body to work at it’s optimum, without feeding it the things it needs?
The are three primary reasons for students occasionally feeling unwell, nauseous, light headed or dizzy, during a hot yoga class: dehydration, mouth-breathing and having not eaten enough.
So, in order to get the best out of each and every class, we advise:
– Come to class well hydrated,
– learn to breath in and out through your nose for the entire class
– come to class having eaten a nutritious meal a few hours before!
We know it’s a massive challenge, but master these things and everything will change!
We do advise students not to eat a large/heavy meal less than two hours before class, this is to avoid feeling nauseous during your class. However, if you eat something nutritious a few hours before, when you come to class your body will be ready and you’ll get the most out of your practise. Eating is not only wonderful, it is also as important as breathing and drinking, so enjoy your appetite for food and life!
Proteins and complex carbohydrates are great sources of energy. Energy derived from sugar, in all its many delicious forms, will provide you with a quick burst, but will see your energy levels dip and crash in class.
So, ladies and gentlemen, porridge, bananas, nuts, fish/chicken (not fried), whole wheats, veggies, eggs, hummus, lentils, the genius that is the avocado… to name a few. These are where our pre and post hot yoga fuel best lie.
Like every aspect of your practise, if you listen to your body and how it is responding, you will be able to hone your preparation and practise to get the best out of it. As everyone’s appetites, digestion and energy levels respond differently to different foods and, very often, we are coming to our practise after busy days at work. We stock protein and fruit bars, chia pods, raw chocolate and superfood sachets at BYC reception, if you need a quick nutrient dense fix!
For more information on Hydration and for those of you who would like to know a little more about what we mean when we say electrolytes see the question ‘What about drinking water before class?‘
