The Beauty of Sweat

A thick droplet rolls down my face, plopping down on the mat below me. I waiver in AirPlane as more sweat rolls down my forehead. I think back to all the times I felt uncomfortable sweating so much in the yoga studio, noticing that in this moment, I am proud of those salty drops on the mat. I spent so many classes thinking it was abnormal to be sweating as much as I was, but when I looked around the room, everyone was as drenched as me. Balanced there, I realized something: sweat is beautiful.

Most of us do not associate sweat with beauty. It is an experience that is only triggered in somewhat uncomfortable situations. Maybe you think back to dots of sweat across your forehead before a big presentation, or that time at the gym when you soaked through your whole shirt during a great workout. Either way, we often approach sweat as this embarrassing secret that we can’t let anyone see. Can I tell you a little secret? Everyone sweats! There is absolutely no avoiding it. I think we should be deconstructing this silly stigma and acknowledge that sweat is extremely beneficial to bodily function and an amazing motivator in a workout. There is beauty in getting your burn on.

WHAT IS SWEAT? 

For the most part, sweat is 99% plain old water. The other 1% accounts mostly for electrolytes such as magnesium, as well as vitamins and minerals like copper or zinc. The electrolyte sodium is what causes sweat’s salty flavor. There are also trace amounts of BPAs and heavy metals in your sweat. While there are several types of glands that produce sweat all over the body, the only type of sweat glands active during a heated fitness class are the eccrine glands. Eccrine glands cover most of your skin and densely populate the forehead, palms and soles of the feet.

WHY DO WE SWEAT?

We humans sweat to regulate our internal or external body temperature. It is actually not the water forming on our skin that cools us off, but the process of evaporation that cools our skin! The sweating process is a small part of our fight or flight response and begins in a part of your brain called the amygdala. When you are in a hot yoga room entering into downward dog your mind is sending signals to your eccrine sweat glands to get pumping.

There are some who claim that sweating is a detoxifying process, and while this may be true psychologically, there is very little evidence that an effective amount of toxins are released in the process of sweating. Most detoxifying is done in your liver and kidneys. Any trace amounts of toxins in your sweat is negligible in the grand scheme of things. However, this doesn’t mean sweating it out in a hot yoga class doesn’t support healthy bodily functions allowing for efficient detoxing after a crazy night out. Raising your heart rate and activating your fight or flight response floods your body with endorphins and increases blood flow to your muscles. This supports the health of your nervous system and cardiovascular endurance.

In fact there are many reasons that sweat is amazing for your body other than just cooling us down. Did you know when you smell after a workout, your sweat is not actually the cause? In reality, sweat has antimicrobial peptides that break down the bacteria on your skin, causing that familiar smell. Other than sweat’s bacteria, virus, and fungus-fighting superpowers, it’s also proven to be a great moisturizer.

While sweat causes a chain reaction of health benefits, the most notable of course is its cooling properties. Without sweat, humans would never have been able to survive in hot environments, much less in a 100-degree yoga room! In fact, sweating is a very advanced aspect of your regulatory system. Your sweat glands actually improve at sweating the more you sweat. There are small filters inside your sweat glands that are meant to catch electrolytes and minerals before they leave your body, but when sweating in excess for extended periods of time your body becomes less concerned with keeping electrolytes and more concerned with cooling you off fast. Over time, your body gets better at managing your internal temperature while maintaining function of its filters. This means that as you get more accustomed to sweating your body gets better and better at defending itself from heat exhaustion.

Profuse sweat from a great workout also has a profound effect on your mental determination and attitude. I won’t lie and say most of us initially love the idea of dripping sweat in a hot room. There are a lot of anxieties associated with being uncomfortable or not looking your best. What if I told you those very fears are the reasons that sweat is so healing to the soul? Sweat releases the expectation to look perfect. In a hot yoga room, everyone is sweating it out together, not caring what anyone thinks. This mindset frees your body, allowing you to focus on how your muscles and joints move through flows. Breaking through the uncomfortability of sweat opens you up to a boundless world of working out; a world where it doesn’t matter if your hair is perfect or skin is dewy enough that day.

Sweat is the ultimate proof that you pushed your body to its limit.

The act of leaving everything on the mat, sweat and all, is rejuvenating in a way that transcends normal strength training. It is a mental battle from which you emerge feeling renewed, inspiring you to seize the day with confidence. Sweat is the ultimate proof that you pushed your body to its limit. Imagine yourself stepping out of the studio after a steamy Hot Hour, feeling strong and sexy in the perfect chill of a fall day. There are few things as rewarding as feeling the sun sparkle across the beads on your skin. Let’s drop this stigma and step onto the mat. Let’s find beauty in existing exactly as we are. Let’s get sweaty.