Wellness practices for WINTER

Each season brings with it a different type of energy. Syncronizing our physical and spiritual practices with that energy can bring us more vitality and better health.
In the WINTER nature goes into hibernation. This is the season of rest, nutrition and regeneration. It can be a moment for great transformation. Even though the days are shorter and darkness prevails, it’s very important to keep your INNER FIRE alive and strong, to balance the darkness with LIGHT.
Let me share with you a few yoga practices for winter:
1. Syncronize your activity with the sun: be more active during the sunlit hours and give yourself plenty of time for rest during the afternoon and night.
2. Start your day in the sun: go for a walk, a bike ride, work in the garden or simply eat your breakfast in the light of the sun.
3. Begin your day with 3, 6 or 9 rounds of Surya Namaskar. The sun salutation increases your prune, strengthens your core and lifts your mood.
4. Sing the Gayatri Mantra in the morning: the Gayatri attracts light and illumination of the being.
5. Practice solar, dynamic forms of yoga during the day and lunar, soft, restorative yoga at night. It’s important to move the body to counteract the rigidity of the cold months.
6. In terms of yoga postures, choose grounding asanas that bring stability, chest openers to strengthen the lungs and heart, hip openers to maintain fluidity and forward folds to cultivate introspection.
7. This is the season to MEDITATE deeper and longer. Listen to the silence that winter brings, to cleanse yourself of the accumulated energies of previous months.
Above all: always seek BALANCE in your day to day.