If your muscles need defrosting in the cold winter weather and your hamstrings feel like steel when you do a forward bend, here are a few hints to get you started.
- Take a hot bath or shower before you start to warm up your muscles.
- Turn on your heater. You’ll probably turn it back down halfway through your session.
- Start with simple stretching movements to loosen up your body. Rock & Roll is a quick and easy warm-up.
- Take a brisk walk to get things moving before you start stretching.
It’s easy to ignore exercise when it’s frosty outside and you’d rather cozy up to a warm fire. Eating more is another easy way to help the body stay warm. But more food and less exercise means that by the time spring rolls around, our clothes don’t fit anymore! The best all-round solution is to get warm with yoga asanas. Not only do they keep the flu bugs at bay, but regular exercise also keeps your appetite in balance.
Even when it’s cold, I like to practice outside in the fresh air. I just layer my clothes. I wear tights under my sweatpants when it’s really cold, and a turtleneck under a sweater with a light jacket I can take off once I get warmed up. And that doesn’t usually take very long!
