Can We Do Yoga In The Rainy Season
The monsoon season is here and it’s time to unpack the umbrellas. After a dry and dusty summer, the rains not only bring down the temperature but also fill the air with a sweet fragrance of mother earth. Even the simple activity of watching the rain fall or listening to the sound of it can be therapeutic. The rains seem to have a profound impact on our mental and emotional states.
The only downside to the rainy season is the physical dullness it brings along, which makes it difficult to go through the day without wanting to take a nap or two. A dedicated yoga routine can play a vital role in improving energy levels and keeping you active and alert throughout the day.
Yoga In The Rainy Season
Yoga transforms your body and mind in a number of ways. It is an ancient form of exercise that dates back about 5,000 years, and its roots can be traced back to northern India. Although the first mention of yoga is said to be in the religious scripture Rig Veda, yoga is still very popular today and practiced by people all over the world. This is because the benefits of yoga are endless. Physical benefits of yoga include: increased flexibility, increased muscle strength and tone, improved respiration, cardio and circulatory health. Yoga increases energy and vitality, helps in maintaining a balanced metabolism and body mass index and circulatory health. To promote better mind-body awareness, the practice of yoga combines: gentle movement (asanas), breathing techniques (pranayama), meditation (dyana). It stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system, known as the rest-and-digest system.
The rainy season is especially notorious for its endless outbreaks of colds, coughs and flu, not to mention vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria and typhoid. Monsoons are also a time of the year when cases of water-borne diseases increase. A yoga workout will help you rejuvenate your body and help boost your immune system.The gloomy weather can make you feel less active and very sleepy. No, you’re not alone! Numerous studies have shown that high humidity, cool climate, and lack of sun have physical and psychological consequences, in the form of this lazy, lousy feeling. For this reason, it is important to try to practice indoor yoga poses to build stamina and stay active.
Aside from the physical benefits, one of the greatest benefits of yoga is how it helps deal with stress, which is known to cause havoc in the mind and body. Stress can manifest in many forms, including back and neck pain, sleep disorders, headaches, substance abuse, and poor concentration. Yoga is very effective in developing coping skills and developing a more positive view of life. Incorporating meditation and breathing techniques through yoga can help improve a person’s mental health.
Here are five simple pranayamas and yoga poses that will help you fight against monsoons’ grim side-effects :
1. Seated Side Bend (Parsva Sukhasana) – This gentle stretch can help alleviate bloating and gas and support general digestion, and counteract the lack of physical activity during monsoon.
2. Kapalbhati Pranayama- It is a powerful breathing technique that perfects the balance of the entire body. It cleans the airways and strengthens the lungs. This is most important during the rainy season. This pose also improves blood circulation, increases metabolic rate and helps with weight loss.
3. Bhujangasana –It is a back bending pose which is also a part of the traditional Surya Namaskar sequence coming at step 8, and step 20. This posture can tone your body and the spinal nerves. Bhujangasana improves your digestion, liver and kidney functions as well.
4. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog) – It builds strength and endurance, and in this inversion as the heart is higher than the head, blood flow increases and leads to increased energy levels and takes away the monsoon blues. There’s also the side benefit on those days when your head’s feeling foggy or heavy, the sinuses open up and may even drain, clearing the passageways for a clear, full breath.
5. Naukasana (Boat Pose) – This is a seated yoga asana that helps improve the body’s immunity by stimulating the thymus gland. Naukasana also strengthens the liver, therefore impacts digestion and toxin removal from blood.
Summary
The rainy season can be enjoyed to its fullest when the body and mind are balanced, and yoga is the best tool one has to achieve a state of complete wellness. During a time when the options to go out and exercise are limited, yoga can prove to be a simple solution with many health and mental wellness benefits.
Practicing Yoga asanas regularly during the monsoon can prove beneficial in increasing energy levels and improving mental awareness throughout the day. Finding a good yoga teacher is important to reap maximum benefits of the practice of yoga. Practicing under the guidance of a qualified instructor helps avoid overexertion, stress and learning the wrong technique.
This article entails an introduction to the benefits of yoga during the rainy season and goes on to explain the various problems related to the rainy season and how different yoga poses can be used to bring relief from them. Yoga asanas and pranayamas are the best way to get exercise done during the rains without the hassle of going out. The asanas not only strengthen the body and the mind but also induce a sense of relaxation which is extremely rejuvenating.
Join Yoga Classes & Workshops in Pune, India with Mrunal Pawar.
I am a Pune based artist, Kathak dancer, Dance Movement Therapist, and an avid Yoga practitioner/ teacher. I am also the Director at the Sakal Media Group, a Trustee of Pune Blind School and Nirdhar Trust.
Being a part of Sakal Media Group, with its strong foundation of service and ethical journalism, I am deeply committed in making this world a better place by pushing boundaries, giving opportunities to others, following my convictions, helping others make better choices and to tell powerful stories that will help reshape the world we live in.
