The summer makes it very easy to work out. You can exercise inside, or you can take advantage of the warm weather outdoors, but exercising outside isn’t as easy or fun when it gets cold. Luckily, you don’t have to take months off from working out, but you may want to shift your routine.
Practicing yoga in the winter can increase energy and support the immune system, which is essential during the cold and flu season. It can improve balance, reduce stress, and improve circulation. Yoga can also increase activity during the winter and help with weight loss and other health goals.
If you want to stay active and fit during the winter, you don’t need to go to the gym or use a bunch of equipment. Yoga is an affordable, flexible way to get you moving and staying healthy indoors. Keep reading to learn why you should practice yoga during the winter.
Increase Your Energy
One of the best reasons to practice yoga during the winter is if you aren’t as energetic. Doing yoga can help increase your energy by getting your body moving. Even though it’s a relatively relaxed form of exercise, it is still an exercise.
You can use active poses to move your body while you do yoga. The Half Sun Salutation is an excellent pose because it isn’t a pose where you hit it and hold. You move as you do the pose, and it can be a great option for waking you up in the morning.
The Warrior II Pose and the Triangle Pose are two other great poses to try to increase your energy with yoga.
Help You Get Better Sleep
While yoga in the winter can help increase your energy, it can also help you with sleep. If you have insomnia or struggle to get good sleep at night, you can use yoga to help. One pose to try is the Corpse Pose, which has you lay on your back with your legs and arms straight.
You can breathe deeply to calm yourself down after a long day, so you can get to sleep. Other poses that can help with sleep include the Lying Butterfly and Legs Up the Wall. These poses are all great for evening yoga sessions, and you can do them in your bedroom.
Yoga alone may not help you get to sleep, but if you combine it with a good diet and relaxing evening routine, it can improve your sleep.
Support Your Immune System
The winter is the season of colds, flu, and other viruses. If you get sick a lot each winter, practicing yoga can help support your immune system. By doing that, you can prepare your body to fight off any cold or flu infections.
Yoga also helps your immune system by lowering your stress hormones. Some of those hormones can compromise your immune system if their levels get too high. Yoga also gets you breathing a lot, which can help strengthen your airways and prepare them to fight off infections.
You shouldn’t boost your immune system too much because that can cause your body to attack its own tissue and cells. However, yoga is an excellent tool to support your immune system during the winter and year-round.
Improve Your Balance
Yoga works with various muscle groups depending on the poses you do, but doing any amount of yoga can improve your overall balance. You can use a combination of active and static poses, and you can rotate between poses each time you practice yoga.
Good balance can help at any time, but it’s especially useful if you get a lot of snow or ice. It can be hard to walk on uneven surfaces without slipping or falling. While practicing yoga won’t guarantee you won’t fall, it can help.
You can practice poses, like the tree pose, that involve standing on one leg. Yoga, in general, can strengthen your core, improving your balance overall.
Reduce Your Stress
While yoga is a physical activity, it can also help ease your mind of stress and anxiety. You can incorporate meditation and breathing into your yoga sessions to help relieve stress. If you have a busy schedule, doing a bit of yoga before or after work can calm you down.
As mentioned, reducing stress can help you sleep better. You can also enjoy a better immune system since you won’t have as many stress hormones circulating in your body.
The more you practice yoga, the more it can relax you. It may take time to see major changes, but it can happen if you keep up with yoga.
Improve Blood Circulation
Many things can cause poor blood circulation, and many of those things are prevalent during the winter. You probably sit more, and you may suffer from cold hands and feet, which is a common symptom of poor circulation.
Luckily, yoga is an easy solution that can help increase blood flow throughout your body. Poses like the Downward Facing Dog and Warrior II can help you get your blood pumping. You can use different poses to work on different parts of your body for circulation.
Practice yoga regularly to get the best improvement in your circulation. So, don’t stop after a few sessions.
Decrease Tightness
Winter can make it easy to feel tight and stiff. The cold can make your muscles stiffen up, and it can be hard to loosen them and feel more flexible, but practicing yoga is one thing that can decrease that tight feeling.
As you decrease stiffness, you can warm up your entire body and feel more flexible. It can also help with things like circulation, and you can be more active throughout the day.
If you work an office job and sit most of the day, yoga can help you not feel so stuck in a sitting position. You can get up and stretch during your work, and you can do more intense yoga sessions before or after work.
Help With Weight Loss
The winter is a time of family gatherings and good food, but that can be hard on your waistline. If you want to keep from gaining a ton of weight during the winter, yoga is a good option. The right poses can get you moving and help you burn some calories.
You don’t have to worry about going on long walks or runs in the cold. Yoga doesn’t require a gym membership because you can do the poses at home or watch online yoga tutorials.
As long as you practice yoga multiple times a week, you can see its health benefits. Like with some things, you probably won’t see results within a week, but if you do yoga throughout the entire season, you may lose some weight and feel healthier.
Lessen Pain Symptoms
You may also want to practice yoga if you have chronic pain or acute pain symptoms. Yoga can help you move, which may help improve your pain in certain parts of your body. If you have arthritis, doing yoga can improve your joint flexibility.
Yoga can also keep joints and muscles from breaking down, so it can be great for preventing pain. Be sure to talk to a doctor before you do yoga for pain management. That way, you can choose the proper poses and yoga routine for you.
Once you do that, you can practice yoga to minimize any seasonal or year-round pain symptoms you have, and that can make you feel a lot better.
Final Thoughts
Practicing yoga in the winter has many benefits. Yoga can support your immune system, improve your balance, and maybe lose some weight. No matter your health or fitness goals, yoga is flexible enough to do at home and on your schedule. Keep these benefits in mind next time you need a good winter workout.
Sources
- HuffPost: Yoga For Energy: 10 Uplifting Poses To Fight Fatigue (PHOTOS)
- Sleep Foundation: The Connection Between Yoga and Better Sleep
- Yoga Journal: Support Your Immune System: Yoga for Wellness
- Best Health Mag: 8 great things about yoga during the winter
- Mayo Clinic: Yoga: Fight stress and find serenity
- Healthline: Yoga for Blood Circulation
- Do You Yoga: 7 Reasons To Practice Yoga This Winter
- Healthline: Yoga for Weight Loss
- Beaumont: Benefits of Yoga for Pain Management
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