Come Out Alive

• 1). Bring a water bottle to class. Hydrating before, during and after class is essential to conquering the heat. The Hot Yoga Saratoga website suggests drinking 1 liter of water throughout the day before your practice. Drinking too much water during class can lead to stomach cramps. Drink moderately during class rather than going for large gulps of water.
  
  
• 2). Grab your towel. Bringing a beach-sized towel to class is essential, or bring a yoga towel, made especially for yoga mats. During hot yoga your body will sweat, and it is important you have a towel to absorb some of the moisture. Without a towel you will slide around on your yoga mat due to your sweat making the mat slippery.
  
  
• 3). Place your mat by the door. During a hot yoga class, teachers will often open up a door to let fresh air into the hot room. Keeping your mat strategically placed by the door will give you the first opportunity to feel the cool air hit your body.
  
  
• 4). Find your Savasana. Savasana means corpse pose. This pose brings you down to your mat, on your back, lying with your hands by your side, palms facing up. Lying on the floor is the coolest place because heat rises. When you begin to feel fatigued come down to your mat to cool your body and calm your mind.
  
  
• 5). Build your endurance gradually. If you are new to hot yoga or coming back after a break, it is important that you listen to your body to build your endurance in the heat. Exercise physiologist and yoga instructor Leslie Funk explains in a "Yoga Journal" article that you should start by holding poses for a fraction of the time the teacher suggests in order to build endurance. Getting used to the heat takes time.