An Ashtanga Yoga practice a day really does keep the doctor away

They come in the house complaining of the cold outside, they come with coats, caps, and a whole set of clothes that prove that winter has finally arrived. I answer them with a smile because I know that in a few moments their bodies will be warm, because they will perform breaths in tune with movements and postures, in a dynamic practice that creates internal heat.

I see them stretching the rugs on the room still pondering the icy air in the street, but at the end of some SURYA NAMASKAR, there are already students undressing their extra nightgowns or taking off their socks. They come to the end of standing poses, and most of them already have hot bodies, and many of them have the wet clothes of the expected blessed sweat in the midst of sitting positions.

This perspiration seeks to cleanse and detoxify our bodies, preparing the body to focus the mind, and bring it to live the present moment, without wandering in on the past, or traveling in the opposite direction towards the future.

These winter practices are not the same as in summer, and even those that warm easily end up perspiring less. You need to breathe deeper and faster, without putting an excessive pace to the point of disturbing the mind, undermining the purpose of practice – to calm your fluctuations.

In Ashtanga Yoga we use a set of conscious, nasal and complete breaths to be able to extend, prolong and control the inflow and outflow of air through the nose, because we need to conjugate them with the movements and postures in order to lead the mind to a state of greater balance and neutrality. So if on the one hand we have to activate more heat, because we are in the middle of winter, on the other we have to regulate this rhythm, so that the mind stays in the present moment.

These winter practices are not the same as in summer, but even with the cold outside, and finally with the long-awaited rain, they have something very special because they keep us from the laziness and apathy typical of this phase of the year, give us a stream of energy (for me sacred), to maintain our health and well-being.

An Ashtanga Yoga practice a day really does keep the doctor away …

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