The Research
Why Hot Yoga?
What could a yoga practice do for you? You may come to hot yoga because you want a good workout. But you might keep coming back for everything else.
Researchers have studied yoga for its effects on the body, brain, stress, mood, sleep, cardiovascular health and more. And the research on hot yoga specifically is growing.
Here's what they've found.
43 Studies. 942 Participants.
And we're still learning.
In 2025, researchers published the most comprehensive systematic review of hot yoga to date. Across 43 studies involving 942 participants, repeated hot-yoga practice showed promising findings involving:
228%
improvement in balance
In one controlled hot-yoga study, single-leg balance improved by 228% after eight weeks, compared with 29% in the non-exercising control group. Participants practiced three times per week.
In everyday terms: surer footing on the trail, steadier steps on an icy sidewalk, catching yourself before a stumble becomes a fall. Balance is the skill you never notice until you need it.
Hot Yoga Research · 8 Weeks
+33%
lower-back flexibility
After eight weeks of hot yoga, researchers measured a 33% improvement in lower-back range of motion compared with essentially no improvement in controls. Hamstring and shoulder flexibility improved by approximately 17%.
Think beyond touching your toes. Think about moving through everyday life with a body that simply feels less stiff and more capable.
Hot Yoga Research · 8 Weeks
+13–14%
stronger
Hot yoga isn't just stretching. Eight weeks of regular practice produced approximately 13–14% improvements on measures of lower-body and deadlift strength, while the non-exercising control groups declined on those measures.
Every hold. Every transition. Every time your muscles shake a little before you breathe and stay - it adds up.
Hot Yoga Research · 8 Weeks
59.3%
cut their depression symptoms by at least half
In a randomized clinical trial of adults with moderate-to-severe depression, 59.3% of participants assigned to heated yoga experienced at least a 50% reduction in clinician-rated depressive symptoms. In the waitlist group? 6.3%.
This was a small eight-week trial, so it doesn't mean hot yoga “treats depression.” But the results were compelling enough that researchers called for larger clinical trials.
And behind the numbers is something simple: an hour of heat, breath, and movement that leaves many people feeling a little lighter than when they walked in.
Heated Yoga Research · Randomized Controlled Trial
Less stress.
And the more they practiced, the greater the improvement.
In a randomized trial of stressed, sedentary adults, 16 weeks of hot yoga significantly improved perceived stress, general health, self-efficacy and feelings of energy and fatigue compared with a control group. Even more interesting: greater attendance was associated with greater reductions in perceived stress.
And it's not just the heat. Zooming out to yoga more broadly, a 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials involving 1,026 stressed adults found that yoga reduced perceived stress compared with passive controls.
Maybe that's why one class can feel good - but a practice can feel different.
Hot Yoga Research · 16 Weeks + Yoga Research · 13 Trials · 1,026 People
What actually happens in there?
Scientists measured it - masks, sensors, and all.
Exercise physiologists at Colorado State University brought experienced hot yogis into a chamber heated to 105 degrees and measured their bodies through a full 90-minute class. Here's what a class looks like from the inside:
~160
average heart rate (bpm)
a genuine cardio workout
100.3°
average core temperature
elevated, and within a safe range
330–460
calories per 90 minutes
measured, not estimated
About those calories: you may have heard hot yoga burns 1,000 a class. The researchers found why that myth exists - heat pushes your heart rate up, and fitness trackers translate a hot-room heart rate into inflated calorie counts. When they measured actual energy burned, it averaged 330 calories for women and 460 for men - about the same effort as briskly walking for the full 90 minutes, while also building the strength, balance, and flexibility walking never will.
A real workout, honestly counted - and one you'll actually want to come back to.
Hot Yoga Research · Measured in a Lab · Colorado State University
And that's only the research on hot yoga.
Hot yoga is still a relatively young field of scientific study. Yoga isn't. Researchers have spent decades studying yoga across thousands of participants. And when we zoom out, the picture gets even more interesting.
Your mind.
A 2024 systematic review examining yoga specifically for depressive disorders included 24 studies and 1,395 participants. Yoga produced significant short-term reductions in depression severity compared with passive controls.
Participants practicing yoga had approximately 3.2× the odds of remission compared with passive control groups. Even compared with active controls, yoga participants had about 2× the odds of remission.
Remission is a clinical word. Feeling like yourself again isn't.
Yoga Research · 24 Studies · 1,395 People
Your sleep.
In a 2025 network meta-analysis comparing exercise types for people with insomnia, yoga stood out: it was associated with roughly 110 more minutes of total sleep per night compared with active controls like usual care - nearly two extra hours, with moderate-certainty evidence.
It fits a broader pattern: an earlier meta-analysis of 19 studies and 1,832 women with sleep problems found yoga significantly improved sleep quality compared with control groups.
Two extra hours is the difference between dragging through your afternoon and actually enjoying it. Better mornings start the night before.
Yoga Research · Network Meta-Analysis · 2025
Your back.
Low back pain is one of the most-studied areas in all of yoga research. A Cochrane review - the gold standard of medical evidence review - examined 21 randomized trials with 2,223 participants and found that yoga improves back function and reduces pain compared with not exercising, and performs about on par with dedicated back-focused exercise programs like physical therapy.
In other words: for an achy back, a regular yoga practice holds its own against the programs designed specifically to fix it - while also being something you might actually look forward to.
Yoga Research · Cochrane Review · 21 Trials · 2,223 People
Your heart. Your blood sugar. Your energy. Your body.
One large umbrella review brought together existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining yoga across chronic health conditions. Researchers found their strongest evidence for improvements involving:
They found moderate evidence for benefits involving anxiety and HbA1c - a measure of long-term blood sugar.
Movement, breath, strength, mobility and stress regulation can affect far more than whether you can touch your toes.
Yoga Research · Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses
So why the heat?
Because it changes the experience.
Your heart rate rises. Your body temperature rises. You sweat. Your body works to regulate its temperature while you move, breathe, balance and focus. The room demands your attention. For an hour, it's harder to think about everything else.
There's your breath. Your body. And the next pose.
You're here.
The research tells us what can be measured. Strength. Flexibility. Balance. Blood pressure. Stress and mood. But there's another reason people practice yoga that is harder to put into a research paper:
how you feel when it's over.
Sweaty. Tired. Clear-headed. Calm. Proud.
Maybe even a little more like yourself.
You don't have to take our word for it. Come feel it for yourself.
A note about the research
We believe wellness claims should be honest. Results from individual studies don't guarantee the same outcome for every person, and some hot-yoga studies are small. When research on this page comes specifically from heated yoga, we've labeled it Hot Yoga Research. When a finding comes from the broader yoga literature, we've labeled it Yoga Research. Yoga can complement a healthy lifestyle but isn't a substitute for medical or mental-health treatment.