Winterize Your Yoga Practice

Why change your yoga practice for winter

As the days grow shorter and colder, your yoga practice is one of your best bets to keep your inner fires stoked, your lymphatic system moving and find precious time and space to catch up to yourself and just be. Do you ever feel like getting movement in is harder in the winter? If you struggle with this, these 5 tips will help you maintain both the physical practice of yoga as well as the soulful benefits of meeting yourself on the mat. 

Physical side of yoga:

asana and pranayama, postures and breathing.

Soulful side of yoga (no religion added): connection, feeling great after a balanced practice and reflection on core values. The first two limbs of yoga practice are just such values, like non-violence, non-comparison, boundaries, balance of effort and surrender, truthfulness, contentment and stewarding resources.

Your yoga practice is the perfect practice to create a meditative mindset, focus on your breath and the miracle of your body, while also getting body weight movement in your life that can raise your heart rate, create strength, build bone density and change your perspective - literally and figuratively. Your body is sacred and moving it with the breath and awareness allows you to connect to layers of your being and existence that create meaning, help process emotion and bring you into presence in a way that manages stress, worry and fear. 

Yoga as a Work In

While I’m not an advocate of yoga as a “workout” alone, there’s no doubt that when you select the right techniques, practice with the breath and intention, you can get your workout in at the same time you get your work in on. In fact, it’s the best use of 20-60 minutes I know. 

And in Early Winter it’s increasingly tempting to skip our self care altogether, in favor of decorating, baking, getting friends and family together and generally taking care of our special people. Add in that when many wake up it’s still dark, dark, dark and cold, cold, cold, and there’s added incentive to pull the covers up and a pillow over our heads. 

But yoga takes very little space, little equipment, can take as little as 15 minutes and is adaptable to your needs for the day and time. This makes it the perfect stay inside, warm up, work in to keep your spirits lifted, your body your friend and your digestion humming like the furnace it is. 

Melatonin, Winter and Balance

Our bodies are making more melatonin, bolstering our heart muscle, our ability to build and maintain skeletal muscle and our digestion. This means that our added ability to sleep is best used to support an active life. In our world of plentiful and rich food and little need to move for work for most people, it’s easy to get the balance of nutrients and cellular maintenance out of what. More than weight gain, this can be the cause of depression, physical pain and lowered immunity. 

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 the sun: The sun’s making it easier these days as it’s getting up between 7:15 and 7:30. 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.

4. Sun Salutations: These make the ideal structure for a warming yoga practice. Once the series you resonate with becomes habit, you’ll think less and breathe more. One breath per movement makes this a smooth and calming way to enter “The Zone” - even while raising your heart rate with all the up, down, push up and inversion.

5. Don’t like Sun Salutations? No problem! Link 2 poses together and move between them - one breath each, 5 breaths each, you choose. Try these simple combinations and then experiment with your own:

   1. Warrior I <> Revolved Side Angle

   2. Warrior I <> Tree Pose

   3. Tree Pose <> Warrior III

   4. Warrior III Kicks of Fire

   5. Fists of Fire

   6. Warrior II <> Side Angle Pose

   7. Down Dog <> Up Dog

   8. Shakti Kicks

   9. Star Pose <> Goddess Pose

   10. Warrior I <> Twisted Tree

Conclusion

Yoga is the perfect low equipment, take it with you way to connect your body, heart and mind on the daily. Creating a habit of your yoga practice will keep your lymphatic system circulating, your muscular system balanced, your fascial system resilient and non-restrictive, your nervous system able to enjoy work and life most of the time and ready to respond when the need arises. Your body needs this gift during the Winter the most. 

Want some support for your personal yoga practice? Check out the Exploratory Call, our Small Group Classes and Private Yoga Consults on the home page and get the support you deserve.