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I've enjoyed practicing yoga as much as the next person &mdash ;I've taken yoga classes on and off for the last few years, much like many amateur practitioners. When I was living in Toronto, Canada, one of my favorite forms of yoga was "hot" yoga — yoga done in a hot and humid room, up to 105 degrees F in some yoga classes (Bikram and Moksha yoga are forms of hot yoga).

During the frigid Toronto winters, I loved the feeling of sweating, of being able to go deeper into poses because of increased flexibility due to the heat, and I looked forward to the refreshing shower after class. Every week, I noticed a significant improvement in my strength and flexibility. However, my practice of hot yoga was not without set-backs. After one class, I began to experience extreme pain in my upper back and shoulder; I had strained my back during a spinal twist, and it took a few days for my back to feel normal again.