Here you will find out scientifically exactly how many hot yoga classes are necessary to be less depressed

Depression can be a life-changing condition that often requires an individualized treatment plan, professional therapy, and sometimes medication. Although antidepressants are considered first-line medications, not everyone responds well to them or is suitable for treatment. Now, new research suggests that hot yoga may also be an additional strategy worth considering for some people.

The results don’t mean you should give up what’s currently working for you in your depression treatment. There is nothing to suggest that hot yoga can replace medication or therapy. However, based on these findings, it makes perfect sense to consider adding hot yoga to what you’re already doing. Here’s why.

What did the study find?

The observational study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, reexamined data from 2023 in which 80 randomized adults with moderate to severe depression were asked to attend an eight-week Hot 26 community yoga class for 90 minutes twice a week or be waitlisted for eight weeks and then receive the intervention. Hot 26 Yoga is a standardized heated yoga sequence derived from Bikram yoga.

During the sessions, the practice rooms were heated to 40 degrees Celsius and professional trainers led participants through the same hatha yoga postures and breathing exercises.

Researchers then examined 65 participants who had completed at least one course and underwent a subsequent psychological assessment.

The results get a little technical, but they found that for every hot yoga class a person took, their Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology–Clinician Rated (IDS-CR) score dropped by 0.72 points (this test is a common way to measure the severity of depression).

To qualify, participants first had to have an IDS-CR score of at least 23. “If their level fell to 14 or less, they were considered to be in remission,” explains Daniel Copeland. “That would mean around 14 to 15 yoga classes over a period of eight weeks. That is very digestible and strengthening.” That’s a little less than just two lessons per week.

READ MORE: “I’m a yoga teacher and I do these 8 moves to open my hips and loosen tight lower body muscles.”

Why might hot yoga relieve symptoms of depression?

There are probably a few things at play here. “Hot yoga exists in a really interesting place between two circles of a Venn diagram,” says Dr. Copeland. “Both circuits – exercise and heat – have been shown to improve depression individually.”

Increase the heat

While exercise has been consistently recognized as a means of relieving symptoms of depression, the warmth element is more recent. More and more research has shown that people with depression tend to have a slightly higher body temperature. Exposing them to heat therapy, such as in a sauna, can ultimately help “reset” their core body temperature to a lower temperature. This is also associated with a reduction in depression symptoms. (A small study published in the International Journal of Hyperthermia found that 11 of 12 people with depression who completed eight weeks of cognitive behavioral therapy and medically supervised heat treatments no longer met criteria for major depressive disorder after the treatments.)

“I also think behavioral activation is a really important part of the story,” says Thea Gallagher. “One of the hallmarks of depression is that people begin to do less. They withdraw from friends, stop exercising, cancel plans, and lose interest in activities they once enjoyed.” But behavioral activation – that is, consciously resuming meaningful activities before you feel like doing them – could also help, says Gallagher. “Taking a hot yoga class makes someone want to get out of the house, move their body, interact with other people and experience a sense of accomplishment,” she says. “These experiences help break the cycle of depression and often improve mood over time.”

The heat exposure from an earlier hot yoga class could even help people sleep better at night, says Hillary Ammon. This is notable because poor sleep is a common problem for people struggling with anxiety and depression.

READ MORE: 10 Real Problems Only Hot Yoga Lovers Understand

Could other heated courses work?

Possibly. “One of the next questions we want to investigate is how important heat is compared to exercise,” says Dr. Copeland. Heated sculpt and Pilates classes could also potentially help ease symptoms of depression – but they haven’t been studied yet.

“We are particularly interested in yoga because of the mindfulness component, which has been shown to have an antidepressant effect on its own,” says Dr. Copeland.

“The beauty of Hot 26 Yoga is that it is the same temperature every class and follows the same poses and breathing patterns,” continues Dr. Copeland continued. “That makes it nice for science.” (And just FYI: If you’re taking medication, Ammon just recommends checking with your primary care doctor before taking a heated class. “Some medications can cause greater sensitivity to heat,” she explains.)

But having fun with a class or training routine is also important, says Gallagher. “Ultimately, the best form of exercise for depression is often one that a person genuinely enjoys and will continue to do consistently,” she says. “Adherence is one of the strongest predictors of long-term mental health benefits, so finding an exercise practice that feels sustainable is often more important than finding the ‘perfect’ workout.”

What is the upper limit for this?

Dr. Copeland finds that the more hot yoga classes people took, the lower their depression levels continued to drop. But this decline in scores “cannot continue forever,” he stresses.

His eight-week study couldn’t determine when the benefits stopped, but he says that simply suggests they didn’t study this intervention long enough. “People who continued to do yoga after the study benefited significantly from their end times,” he says. But people who stopped doing hot yoga after the study ended still had the same lower levels four weeks after the study ended, says Dr. Copeland. This suggests that hot yoga’s mental health benefits persist even after you’re done practicing.

Meet the experts: Thea Gallagher, PsyD, clinical associate professor at NYU Langone Health and co-host of the Mind in View podcast. Daniel Copeland, MD, lead author of the study, a research engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a fellow at the Depression Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. Hillary Ammon, PsyD, clinical psychologist at the Center for Anxiety and Women’s Emotional Wellness.

This article by Korin Miller was originally published on Women’s Health US.