Winterize Your Yoga Practice
winter, Early Winter, fit the yoga to the person not the person to the yoga, seasonal yoga, healing yoga, Personal Yoga Practice, sun salutation Christine Stump winter, Early Winter, fit the yoga to the person not the person to the yoga, seasonal yoga, healing yoga, Personal Yoga Practice, sun salutation Christine Stump

Winterize Your Yoga Practice

5 Tips for Winterizing Your Yoga Practice

  1. Yoga between 6am and 10am and practice in a warming fashion: Exert early. This doesn’t necessarily mean HIIT - though it could, in conjunction with an engaged practice. Doing it during this time, takes advantage of the times of day the body is in “build” mode. Daniel Pink in his acclaimed book When: the scientific secrets of perfect timing acknowledges that timing can make all the difference. Use it to your advantage.

  2. Wake before or with the sun: This will help you reset your rhythm so it’s natural to be asleep at 10pm. Aligning your habits with circadian rhythms helps the immune system function properly and be ready to clear out the trash (non-functioning cells) at the time of night your organs are ready for the work. Creating rituals helps your habits stick.

  3. If you can’t yoga early, make it half and half: You need to exert during these months more than ever, your body needs this to keep muscles balanced, to keep fascia mobile and bones strong. But if you’re yogaing after 4-5 in the evening, make the first half the warming, even sweaty part. In the second half, scale it down, moving toward yin or restorative, adding in cooling breaths, longer savanna and meditation. Your sleep with thank you.

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Allow Your Body to Release Like the Trees Do in Autumn
Everyday Sacred, Abhyanga, Meditation, Yoga Asana, Pranayama, Autumn Christine Stump Everyday Sacred, Abhyanga, Meditation, Yoga Asana, Pranayama, Autumn Christine Stump

Allow Your Body to Release Like the Trees Do in Autumn

What if we have it backwards?

What if the things that keep us alive - eating, sleeping, washing ourselves, breathing, preparing food, taking counter-habitual movements (yoga) and counter-habitual mental stretches (meditation) - are the very foundation on which our health is built? What if the quality of our food, our attention to and joy in its preparation, are all powerful levers that could add to our vibrancy, energy, joy and longevity?

What if we could massively lower medical costs and diversions for treatment with attention to our basic routines? What if how we treat our skin has everything to do with how healthy our gut is? What if mindful breathing could calm and soothe us when the do-more-be-more cycle of activity threatens to leave us in the undertow?

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