Hot yoga, or Bikram yoga, is a specific set of poses and breathing postures in a heated, humid room. For some, the idea of practicing yoga in a room set at 105 degrees Fahrenheit may seem unbearable, but for others, it’s a way to reduce moderate-to-severe depression.
A controlled trial conducted by Harvard Medical School and published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in October 2023 found that hot yoga can help alleviate depression symptoms.
According to Harvard, the study involved 65 adults with depression, ranging in age from 18 to 60, some of whom were already taking antidepressants. The participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups.
The first group was instructed to attend at least two 90-minute hot yoga sessions weekly for eight weeks. The second group was placed on a waiting list for eight weeks. At the end of the study, the researchers found that participants who attended hot yoga classes had significantly reduced depression symptoms, even if they attended only one class per week.
The study found that symptoms eased by 50% or more for about 60% of the people participating in hot yoga classes, compared with only 6% of those on the waiting list. While the study did not investigate whether hot yoga was more effective than other types of yoga for treating depression, it suggests that hot yoga can be used alone or in conjunction with medication to help improve mental health.