Do You Really Need to Drink Water During Yoga?

Updated September 14, 2014.

Answer: Like a lot of matters yogic, the answer here is a big “it depends.” People who do hot yoga or Bikram usually show up to class with giant containers of cold water. Since hot yoga is such a sweaty affair, it makes sense to replace the fluids you are excreting. Likewise, women doing prenatal yoga often carry water bottles since dehydration in pregnancy can be very serious. Sipping water can be a good way to fight nausea too. But in the case of most other yoga styles, you can probably wait the sixty or ninety minutes that a class takes before getting a drink. In flow classes, stopping for a water break can cause you to miss a pose or two, as can the natural corollary of hydration: bathroom runs. You may also find yourself kicking over water bottles as you flip your dog, for example. If you drink water before and after class, you should be fine. That said, it’s pretty commonplace to see yoga students rock up to class lugging the ubiquitous metal water bottles these days. Unless your teacher specifically objects, decide for yourself whether you need a water bottle at your side at all times.