If you don’t already know, up here in Seattle, we do not get as much sun as the rest of the country does. In fact, a lot of our days are cloudy and gray. But if you have lived here for a while, you begin to fall in love with it. Trust me, it took me a couple of years and lots of complaining to see this new found love for the weather. This year, we had a record 182 days of rain straight and we ended up breaking a 122-year-old record. Our summer has been unusually cool and wet, so imagine our surprise and joy when we hit close to 100 degrees this past weekend. Phew! Even though I grew up in India, my body and brain have totally forgotten what the heat is like. And so when I taught my yoga classes and even in my own yoga practice, I turned towards more cooling yoga poses to help everyone stay cooler in their practice. While I am a firm believer that yoga practice needs to change with the seasons – this heat is a perfect opportunity to introduce some change and practice a little differently. While my list is long, here are my top 5 yoga poses to stay cool this summer.
You might be wondering why I am asking you to change your practice during the intense heat. Especially if you are a hot yoga practitioner. And you love the heat. Our bodies change every day and this is visible in our habits every season.Our body has its own way of regulating internal body temperature, for example, in summer our bodies crave lighter, hydrant rich foods like watermelon, grapes, pineapples, cucumbers etc…We also inculcate certain practices like wearing cotton clothes, hats, sunglasses, flip flops, seek shade etc…to keep this internal temperature regulated. So why ignore this when it comes to our yoga practice?
Do you know that every yoga pose is either heating, cooling or neutral? And that by changing it up ever so often, we are doing our body better. If you are unwilling to change your practice, I ask you – would you be willing to eat the same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the rest of your life? If your answer is no, then realize that you are either over attached or that your practice is driven by your ego perhaps? This summer can be the perfect opportunity to practice some non-attachment to yourself as you indulge in our top 5 yoga poses to beat the summer heat.
In general, if you are not used to the heat or need time to acclimate toning down the intensity or avoiding these poses on a very hot day will be helpful. Please understand that I am not asking you to completely give up these yoga poses. You can and must do all yoga poses on a regular basis, but if the heat is draining you where you feel faint on the mat, these would be the yoga poses to avoid.
If you are rather advanced in your practice, some of these so-called strenuous poses may not feel too strenuous to you. But if you are an intermediate practitioner, you might need to reexamine the following.
You probably guessed this one. Hands down one of the best and most popularly practiced yoga pose today. The reason adhomukha swanasana is a great yoga pose is that it does has so many varied benefits. It works as a semi-inversion, helps recovers the body from fatigue, stretches the whole back body, builds strength in the upper and lower body, improves body awareness, the list just goes on and on. But since it works as a semi-inversion and the body is tilted downward, it allows the heart to rest and cools the body temperature. Hold this pose for extended durations of time comfortably and focus on longer exhalations breaths. Rest in between rounds in Adhomukha Virasana (See below)
You can do ardha uttanasana (half forward fold) if you feel like your hamstrings are tight. But if you are able to get into full uttanasana, the heart being over the brain in this pose helps to cool the body down. This is also a semi-inversion and follows well with adhomukha swanasana. Make sure to keep the back of the neck soft and head hanging throughout this pose.
Continuing to rest the heart and practice semi inversions in this sequence. Prasarita Padottanasana is a great way to bring blood flow back to heart with minimal strain.
I would practice this pose as a rest pose in a heating vinyasa yoga class. But this pose has more applications than just rest. While it doubles as a lower back stretch and release. It is excellent to connect with the breath while softening and relaxing in this pose. Use the modification offered if you cannot go into the full extent of the pose.
I have picked Janu Shirshasana here as it’s accessible to pretty much everybody. But any seated forward extension will do the trick. Think Ardha Padma Paschimottanasana, Pascimottanasana etc… As the head is drawn towards the leg, it creates a certain inward turning focus and will help cool us down. Also by being seated, we are expending less energy than the standing poses or going through vinyasa, so, therefore, less heat builds up in the body with any seated pose.
I have chosen to end with a cooling inversion. While Shirshasana (Headstand pose) and Adhomukha Vrkshasana (Handstand) are great inversions. They build up the heat in the body. So if you are looking for an inversion and want to stay cool. Sarvanagasana coupled with Halasana (plow) will do the trick for you.
So there you have it! Our top 5 yoga poses to stay cool this summer. I hope you have a fun summer and don’t forget to keep up with your yoga practice. Modify the intensity, duration, and your sequence. But practice yoga nonetheless. Enjoy!
Author by Arundhati Baitmangalkar