Seasons yoga is all about rolling with the four seasons and knowing what yoga suits you in the seasons.
Yoga is personal and subjective, understanding ourselves better by practicing yoga can change our approach. I share my journey of yoga seasons and how it has grown through the years.
Our energy and behaviour changes with the seasons and can affect us. It’s important to flow with it to improve our mental health, and free our body. By being gentle with the minds thoughts through understanding Your gorgeous self better.
How the seasons can change us
Your ever woke fresh as a daisy with the sun shine and got up, before realising its only 430am?
The sun blasting our eyes helps our body and mind be more alert and awake. Most people tend to not need so much sleep in the summer months.
We live in Scotland and blessed with so much more daylight in the summertime. However in the winter, it’s the complete opposite.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can occur at this time and I know the harsh winters affect my mood.
I sure as hell am not this lady practicing seasonal yoga, smiling in the windy winter cold.
I was watching a program on Norway. There’s a little village up the mountains, sorry guys don’t remember the name off hand. But this village doesn’t get the sun the entire winter months. It lives in shade.
Not having sunshine can deplete our energy levels, it definitely does mine and can create feelings of hibernation.
Meditation in the winter months and bed yoga often needs to be increased. In these months, it’s necessary to free up my mental health and allow me to sleep more.
I’m not allergic to the cold, but I’m definitely a sun baby at heart.
As a yoga teacher my yoga classes need to change with the seasons to ensure a healthy morning routine. The more I practice through the years. The more i’ve learned what sort of yoga I need, in each seasons yoga flow.
Life, diet and social contact can also change with the seasons.
Eating with the seasons for your mental health
We’re blessed to live in the West where a variety of food of any season can be bought. However there was a time when we didn’t have this option and locally grown seasonal food was the only choice.
Eating seasonally has so many health benefits. The more I practice seasons yoga, the more in tune I feel with my environment.
I found this great article which gives countries seasonal food guidelines at the end, for different countries.
Seasons Yoga equipment for beginners why have it at home?
One common phrase that I hear time and time again from mums is;
“I haven’t time for a class with kids around”
By having the seasons yoga home essential exercise kit at home. It’s a game changer when it comes to time managing exercise and being able to practice, yoga yoga.
Gone is the travel journey to get to the class, the gym, the traffic queues.
The logistics of having kids and managing exercise at home gives you more free time. Who doesn’t need more time right?
Not that any of these yoga classes exist for so many of us, given the current covid quietening times.
So many of us globally are having to exercise at home now. It’s the new practice norm in life, working out with the times.
How the seasons have changed my yoga practice
When I was first introduced to yoga at, I’d love to say sweet age of 16. But realistically it was an aggressive age of 16.
“You need to calm down you need to relax” people were always telling me but rarely asking me. Possibly because they have been met with a sarcastic response.
Mmmmmmm the teacher sexualised her inhale as she said relaxxxxxxxxx rather irritatingly on her exhalation.
Ok love your not in bed having an orgasm, calm down! my inner voice was beckoning back.
Yogas shite mum! I ranted to her after class.
How are you meant to relax when someone’s telling you to relax. Oh I mean reeeeeelaxxxxx, thee most irritating voice of the day mum, I’m off out! my teenage attitude problem continued.
And so, with an attitude that I’ve been cursed and blessed with. It took me a further 10 years to find a teacher, that made my tick…….tock.
10 seasons yoga years later
In 2009 I went to india and unexpectedly ended up signing up for a 10day verpasna. No talking, smoking drinking, music, personal books, eating the same food every day. Reading only Buddhist books, rising 5am everyday and going to bed 830pm.
It was a Buddhist retreat, so a variety of meditation techniques were taught. Daily Buddhist lectures, and the most challenging was, having to listen to my internal rant whittering on.
I touched upon this in last weeks blog I change my thinking it changed my life morning habits
I don’t deny it was a rather emotional. Sometimes overwhelming painful eye opening experience, to be confronted with what was really happening within. It forced the internal dialogue out, and many a tear was shed. It was a testing ten days. But I and many others, did it and I came out intrigued to learn more.
After coming out of the silence, I met Alpesh a paranayam teacher who was to become my first proper teacher. He offered a weeks crash course into Pranayama breathing. Being in the mood to delve deeper, I took up the offer.
Four hours of paranayam breathing everyday for 7 days was what lay ahead. I immediately fell in love with this type of meditation, as it forced me deep within my own breathe.
A 45minute cycle felt like 15 and the benefits to my mindset, awareness of my breathe and calming my fire within, completely changed my seasons yoga path and direction of thought.
Being able to sit still, focused and in tune with my breathe, helped me see that I can be still.
That although the seasons can affect our yoga practice. Being aware of our body and how we feel in the seasons, can through the years of seasons yoga, change our approach to it.
Our ability to change and grow comes from within. Of course the seasons can affect our mood. However it’s our attitude and awareness to it, that can transform our behaviour through it.
The opportunity to grow into your practice with yoga and the seasons, is key.
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