Don’t Hibernate From Your Yoga Practice This Winter

As tempting as it is to laze around in front of a blazing fire and do nothing but cozy up in a warm blanket and sip on some hot cocoa, winter is not the time you should be skipping out on your Yoga practice.

The cold winter weather brings with it the ‘winter blues’ as some call it. Depression, seasonal affect disorder, feeling lethargic and simply down are part and parcel of the heaviness of winter weighing on the mind and moods. Yoga exercises and the holistic teachings of yoga that brings about a complete balance of the mind, body and spirit can uplift your moods and help keep the blues at bay.

The drop in temperatures in the winter season is cause for a number of health related issues too. Immunity levels a lower than usual with our body’s burning more energy on keeping warm. You’ll notice that you’re more susceptible to colds, the flu, fevers and similar illnesses in the winter months, more so than in other seasons. People with asthma an respiratory problems find that this season brings on the worsening of their conditions. But, with Yoga’s deep breathing techniques you can help decrease your respiratory rate, which in turn maximizes the absorption of oxygen-rich air for your body which will greatly help reduce respiratory related health problems like asthma, bronchitis and clear the nasal passage and sinuses. It also makes the digestive and endocrine systems much more effective and strengthens the immune system.

In the cold, the body’s joints tend to stiffen. Anyone suffering from arthritis will testify, to the winter being the hardest for them. Tight hips, hamstrings and lower backs have often been identified as the problem areas in the cold months of winter. There’s nothing better than yoga stretches, poses and sequences to help you keep fit in this season. You don’t even have to leave the comfort of your homes to keep with your practice.

A warm room, preferably infront of a crackling fireplace, a yoga mat and a willingness to practice is all you need. True practice of yoga needs none of the other ‘bells and whistles’. Just remember like we’ve said before…. Yoga is a Lifestyle, Yoga is Everywhere, Yoga is You!

*Photo credits: photo by Gare and Kitty on flickr

Connecting with Nature: Yoga and the Outdoors

Let’s face it. Even the most dedicated yoga practitioners sometimes lose focus. When studio or home becomes stifling, mix up your workouts with occasional outdoors practice and it will truly invigorate you and your routine, by awakening your senses, enhancing your focus, and helping you reconnect to the natural world.

Sadly, for most people, the outdoors is a place where they commute, purely transitional from one indoor space to another. They lack consciousness of the natural world, as they never fully experience it. Yoga outdoors will reward you with the awareness of the outside space, and a renewed presence of mind. Many studios have beautiful ambient lighting, or burning incense that create a distinctive mood once you enter but many are just a mere recreation, a replica of what nature has to offer. Sunkissed mornings, pleasant smells and fresh air. In the outdoors, you practice yoga with a certain awareness, taking careful note of your surroundings and feeling the true connection with the universe, as yoga (meaning union with the Supreme) intends. Enjoy the warm summer morning or the pleasant chill of autumn, dewy grass beneath your feet or a pink sunset as you practice stillness.

Take careful note of your surroundings and feel the true connection with the universe, as yoga (meaning union with the Supreme) intends. Ever consider why so many asanas reflect nature, animals especially? Enjoy the warm summer morning or the pleasant chill of autumn, dewy grass beneath your feet or a pink sunset as you practice stillness in the elements. Weather permitting, choose the time of the day that feels best and head out in your favourite yoga apparel with your mat or without if the terrain allows it. Find your rhythm in a spot you feel at ease. It doesn’t have to be far from home, not everyone has access to a lush forest or a peaceful riverbank. Your own backyard, Central Park, the beach, a tiny creek, a terrace garden, any location you feel is right will do.

Sink into the ground beneath you and breathe deeply. Enjoy the change from what’s most likely recycled air to increased oxygen as it floods your lungs. Allow your breath to fall in sync with the rhythms of nature – a chirp or a coo, a gentle wind, the crashing of waves. For a minute, forget about repetitions and encourage flow through your asanas, let nature dictate the sequence in which you perform your asanas. It will inspire and rejuvenate your practice.

If you feel distracted by the elements, change your thought. Rather than a challenge, think of the four elements earth, wind , water and fire as your guide. Meditate with the flowers and leaves, find your balance in the ground beneath your feet, release your worries into the wind, feel the sun on your skin and warming your bones, push yourself into a challenging pose that will create heat in the body, imagine your breath is like the tides, going in and out. Visualize these elements moving through you as you forget fancy flooring, air conditioning, humming lightbulbs, mirrored walls. Just you and the universe. Enjoy being a part of it and it being a part of you.

* Photo credits: lululemon athletica, CrazyFast, Jordan Lewin, Shunpikie on flickr