Try these 7 yoga techniques to beat the heat this summer
From asanas to breathing exercises and visualisation meditation, here are some yoga practices for summer that will keep you fit this season.
Fitness and working out take a back seat during summer as the weather makes us sluggish. If gyming every day seems like a tall order to you, yoga is a simple and effective way of keeping fit.
Manish Pole, yogi, speaker-author, co-founder Total Yoga says, “In summer, excessive backwards bending in asana practice is avoided. Rather, forward bending and twists are emphasised on. This is if you’re practising in a normal environment. If you're practising in an AC studio it might not matter much."
Yoga practices vary according to seasons. Here are 7 exercises that are suited for summer:
1. Janusirsasan
What it does: Every yogi knows that at the end of their asana routine, the best way to cool off is perhaps by practising Janusirsasana. It immediately switches on the parasympathetic nervous system and so the body begins to cool off.
2. Padhastasana
What it does: It is an easy asana, as you don’t really need to warm up. Just by dropping your body forward, you will be relaxing your nervous system, and reducing your metabolic rate and body heat.
3. Merudandasana
What it does: The spine allows you to relax deeply, thereby once again moving from sympathetic to parasympathetic nervous system activation. This helps you to cool off.
4. Ardha Matsyendrasana
What it does: A complete side twist that helps relax you deeply. It's great after a yoga or exercise routine and also at anytime (morning or evening) when your stomach is not full.
5. Shavasana
What it does: An ubiquitous relaxation pose that everyone, yogi or non-yogi, loves! Shavasana along with deep breathing relaxes the nervous system more than any other yogasana. And, this instantly brings down body temperature.
6. Pranayam
Manish says, “More effective than any asana is pranayam, which cools the body. Our bodies breathe predominantly through one nostril at any given point. This changes every 1.5 hrs in a healthy individual. When the body is breathing through the left nostril, the body cools down.”
Left nostril breathing: Close your right nostril and breathe through the left nostril. Slowly the parasympathetic nervous system activates and this causes adrenaline to be reduced, thinking becomes calmer, heart rate slows and so body temperature drops.
Sheetkari Pranayam: Join your teeth, open your lips and draw in an inhalation. As the air passes through your spit, it cools down and hence as it enters your body it cools it from inside. Exhale out through the nose. In about five minutes, the body temperature drops. This is one of the most effective yoga techniques to beat the heat.
7. Visualisation meditations
They are very effective to maintain an adequate response to extreme weather conditions. Manish explains, “Visualising ice-capped mountains allows you to drop your body temperature. This takes a little time to master, but is very rewarding as a practice. Yogis are able to make their body shiver by visualising cold. You can also try visualising the colour dark blue, when the colours outside are actually the yellow of the sunshine.
(Image courtesy Neetu Singh, co-founder of Total Yoga)
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