Why Hot Yoga?

So glad you asked…

If you’re under a radiant heat panel, congrats—you’re basically a burger under a heat lamp, but with better intentions and way more sweat.

If you love your yoga hot, fresh, and sanitized—then in the words of Madonna, we’ve got something to say about it!

HVAC might sound like a boring home repair convo, but at HYR, it’s the unsung hero of your workout.

Our system isn’t just about heat—it’s a $750,000 setup that delivers filtered, humidified, finely tuned, oxygenated airflow to boost heart health, brain power, and muscle recovery.

So here’s your crash course in why HYR’s HVAC is secretly sexy AF…

The History of How Hot Yoga Studios Get Hot:

For years, hot yoga studios used janky space heaters or slapped panels on ceilings—basically baking you in stale, funky-smelling air. No real ventilation, no humidity. That mirror fog? It’s not humidity. It’s breath, sweat, and… let’s not finish that sentence.

A trend now? Radiant heat panels + sealed rooms = sweat city. But without sanitized humidity, you're just marinating in other people’s bodily exhaust.

Let’s be clear: if there’s no hospital-grade humidifier, you’re inhaling recycled sweat and breath.

Um… ew.

HYR Co-founder Jessica Smith spent over a decade geeking out on HVAC—not just in yoga studios, but in spas, steam rooms, and saunas.

With top-tier engineers (think stadiums and hospitals), she designed HYR’s patent-pending HVAC system—unlike anything in hot yoga nationwide.

Here’s the HYR HVAC difference:

  • When you step into HYR’s studio you can feel a velvet tidal wave of quiet, heated, humidified air flood into the length of the right side of the room. Yes, that air is moving.

  • This air is being pulled in from the outside through massive tubes. The fresh air is then heated to high temperatures and infused with sanitized steam humidity.

  • That heated, sanitized, humidified fresh air is then gently pulled across the HYR studio and vacuumed out through 10 HEPA-filtered vents on the opposite side of the studio.

  • HEPA stands for High Efficiency Particulate Air filter.

  • Meanwhile, fresh air is continuously being pulled in, repeating this process over and over and over, so you are never breathing other members expelled carbon dioxide for any measurable period of time.

  • At approximately 3-5 minutes after class is finished, you’ll hear our powerful fans kick on and evacuate the room completely, so that the room is totally fresh and clean ready for the next class, when the process begins all over again.

This computerized process repeats every single Hot Yoga Republic class, 365 days a year…that’s more than 4,000 classes!

Is this process complex and and does it require extensive (aka expensive) monthly service from a team of techs to keep it running smoothly?

Yes.

But we think your health is worth it.

Yo! What’s up with the heat?!

  • We're not telling you it's going to be easy...

    When you first step into the Hot Yoga Republic studio, the experience will not be like that of any other hot yoga studio you have ever been to before. Our unique blend of heat + humidity will instantly make your skin turn rosy and your body sleek with sweat.

    We are passionate about hot yoga, not as a gimmick or because we like to show how badass we are. We are passionate about the heat because, as you’ll see over a period of time, working out in an immaculate hot environment will transform everything about you, from your glowing youthful skin, to your newfound mood-boosting optimism, you will feel like you have tapped into some magical fountain of youth.

    Hey, we’re not telling you this is going to be easy, but we are telling you it’s going to be worth it.

  • That plump, youthful, glowing skin...

    When you encounter regular Hot Yoga Republic members, you’ll notice something pretty quickly…that skin!

    More and more research is coming out from esteemed universities such as Canada’s top research institution, McGill University, that sitting in a hot humid environment is great for your skin. (McGill is the Harvard of Canada, btw!)

    It should come as no surprise that sitting in a blisteringly hot room, and sweating profusely, will produce changes in the body, and the first organ to be affected is your skin.

    First, there’s the temperature of the skin, which rapidly goes up to 104ºF, with blood flow to the skin increasing dramatically.

    Typically, only 5% to 10% of the blood the heart pumps ends up reaching the surface of your skin. In our sauna like studio, that number goes up to 50% to 70%, or seven liters of blood per minute being pumped to the surface of your skin!

    Day-um! That glowing skin is not just your imagination!

  • Weight management...

    Since opening our doors in March of 2021, many of our members report dramatic weight loss, while also experiencing an increased appetite for healthier, higher quality foods.

    Additionally, you’ll consume copious amounts of water when you’re not in the hot room, helping to keep your internal functions rocking!

  • Cardiovascular fitness...

    What the whaaaat?! Cardio fitness?! From hot yoga? Yes!

    Check out what ultra marathoner Dean Karnazes, Coach Stephen Kerr and countless other super athletes have discovered…

    Researchers have been looking at the effects of heat on athletic performance for decades, and their results have been consistently surprising. Studies have found that, in addition to an increased rate of perspiration, training in the heat can increase an athlete’s blood plasma volume (which leads to better cardiovascular fitness), reduce overall core temperature, reduce blood lactate, increase skeletal muscle force, and, counterintuitively, make a person train better in cold temperatures. In fact, heat acclimation may actually be more beneficial than altitude training in eliciting positive physiological adaptations, says Dr. Santiago Lorenzo, a professor of physiology at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and a former decathlete at the University of Oregon. “Heat acclimation provides more substantial environmental specific improvements in aerobic performance than altitude acclimation,” he says. And in contrast to the live low, train high philosophy, we more quickly adapt to heat stress than we do to hypoxia. In other words, heat training not only does a better job at increasing V02 max than altitude, but it also makes athletes better at withstanding a wider range of temperatures.

  • Balancing those pesky hormones...

    You might not realize it, but your daily workouts can have a profound effect on regulating your hormones that help your body function in all areas. Some key chemicals which are stimulated include Endorphins (natural painkillers), Dopamine (pleasure), and Serotonin (mood-stabilizer & joy).

    And bee tee dubs, when you feel good, you tend to want to “share” that feeling… we’re all adults here, you know what we’re talking about.

  • Flexibility...

    We hear it ALL the time, “I’d love to try yoga…but I’m not flexible!” (Which makes about as much sense as saying “I’d love to try weight-lifting, but I’m not strong enough.”)

    Contrary to popular belief, yoga is not about arriving with flexibility, it’s about finding a few extra millimeters of movement over a long period of time.

    A looser, more fluid body as you age is your birthright.

    Ask some of our clients who are 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and yes even 80 about how empowering it is to finally feel a little loose and agile!

    The heat envelops your muscles for safe improvement of your flexibility.

    Ask one of our members, a former pro ball player, what the greatest secret is to his scratch golf game? Yoga.

  • A good night's sleep...

    Trust us on this, not only will you feel like a teenager after spending time at Hot Yoga Republic, you’ll sleep like one too.

  • "In 2020 I was diagnosed with lung cancer and breast cancer. The surgery left hard, tight scars under my skin, on my ribs and under my arms. I was told that this was just the way it was going to be, my body’s reaction to the trauma. After practicing at Hot Yoga Republic, I all of a sudden realized the hard scars were gone… from all the stretching and the heat everything had broken up and softened in the hot room.”

  • “As a middle-aged guy who had never done yoga before in my life, I took my first hot yoga class in March of 2021. I’ve lost 35 pounds and feel like a different person.”

  • “I have psoriatic arthritis (autoimmune and debilitating.) I also have lymphedema and both have been so much more tolerable since coming to HYR almost daily. My health overall seems far more stable…Of course I don’t hate the side effects…like having abs again.”

  • “I walked into Hot Yoga Republic at the age of 40, the mother of two young children, forty five pounds overweight and facing personal crisis. For the first few weeks I was often flat on my mat in savasana, just trying to stay in the room quite honestly. It was hard… BUT, it got easier and I began to really move my body! I slowly began to notice what my body needed… what foods it needed, how much water it needed and how much rest it needed. My emotional eating patterns also began to drastically shift. THAT was the kicker. The special heat/humidity combo that HYR has crafted also really helped to balance so much of my inflammation, which I’m very prone to. My entire system has shifted. I have lost nearly 30 pounds and feel the strongest I have felt in over 15 years… both physically and mentally.”

Bay Area local? Kamaʻāina?

Your first class is free!

Guess what? To receive your first free class just show up no later than 15 minutes early to the first class you’d like to attend! Easy!