英語時差：熱瑜伽，夏季大流行

It's one of the most oppressively hot and humid days of the year, and Joan Fessler is in a room where the heat is cranked up to 36.5 degrees. On purpose.

While everyone else is searching for ways to cool off, devotees of "hot yoga" spend class sweating through a series of stretches and poses in a room designed to be even hotter than Africa in the summer.

"It's difficult to explain.... You're so at peace. It's well worth the suffering," Fessler said after a recent workout at Bikram Yoga Baltimore, a studio in Cockeysville, Maryland.

In the Cockeysville yoga studio, instructors crank up the temperature and keep the humidity level in the 30 percent to 40 percent range, which is ideal for Bikram yoga, a series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises.

About 20 people attended a recent noon class and within the first few minutes, everyone is sweating. It starts as beads of perspiration on foreheads. But most of them are drenched in sweat by the time the class members twist their arms and legs into the "eagle" pose.

Although it is known for being challenging, the Bikram style is helpful to those with joint problems and back pain.

"This kind of sweating is cleansing," an instructor says. "Your body starts to crave it."oppressively (adv.) 悶熱地;難忍地on purpose 故意地;蓄意地devotee (n.) 獻(xiàn)身者;熱愛者workout (n.) 運動;練習(xí)to crank up 轉(zhuǎn)動;提高h(yuǎn)umidity (n.) 濕氣;濕度posture (n.) 姿勢;姿態(tài)perspiration (n.) 流汗;汗drenched (adj.) 浸濕的;濕透的to crave (v.) 渴望;熱望