The Benefits Of Yoga For Excessive Sweating Sufferers

By: Matthew Johnson Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Sweating is perfectly normal, we all do it. But excessive sweating could be a sign of other health issues. Rebalancing the body's systems could be a good way of alleviating these problems. Yoga is a great way of doing just that.

Yoga combines breathing and movement and is one of the oldest froms of exercise. The aim of yoga is to harmonise your body and correct any imbalances. So it's possible that the regular practice of yoga could address the underlying cause of your symptoms - even if you don't know what the cause is.

Although most yoga is a slow and gentle practice, is it still a valid form of exercise and as such, brings about the positive benefits that come from any physical activity. These include a more efficient metabolism, improved overall fitness and the release of endorphins. This all means that you feel good - physically, mentally and emotionally. These benefits will continue even after the session and help your body perform better, heal itself and boost your self-esteem.

Like all exercise, yoga is also an effective stress-buster. But when it comes to hyperhidrosis, yoga has an additional advantage. Regular yoga practice is great at inducing inner calm and emotional stability. So, if your excessive sweating is related to stress or anxiety, yoga could help immensely in reducing those occasions when you feel stressed. It will also help to reduce the severity of your anxiety when unavoidable stressful situations arise.

Although yoga can be a powerful exercise, it isn't normally associated with the frantic and sweaty workout of more aerobic exercises like step, circuits or spinning. For this reason, yoga classes may appeal more to those who want to avoid public situations where they are likely to perspire heavily.

However, there are forms of yoga that are more vigorous and fast-paced. Ashtanga is one of these (and Madonna's exercise of choice). There is also a type of yoga called Bikram yoga (or Hot Yoga) which is performed in heated rooms - so as to make you sweat more. But this could actually be a good thing for sufferers of excessive sweating. Firstly, everyone will be soaked through, so you needn't feel self-conscious. Secondly, the body sweats to get rid of toxins. So, if you 'work up a sweat' during your exercise regime, you will be speeding up this elimination. Then your body is under less pressure to 'sweat out' the toxins the rest of the time.

Yoga is far more than a series of random positions. The stretching, twisting, holding and breathing all have specific effects of different parts of your body. You can affect not just your muscles but your organs and immune system, too. It's good at stimulating your digestive system as well. This is useful for sufferers of hyperhidrosis that is linked to weight issues, food intolerance or poor diet. Also, there are certain positions that help your body flush out toxins. This is helpful if your excessive sweating is a symptom of toxin-overload.

In short, yoga will improve your overall fitness, detoxify your system, boost your wellbeing and stabilise your anxiety. Since it addresses many of the health issues that lead to excessive sweating, yoga can be an effective route to not only reducing the symptoms, but also treating the cause.