
How Yoga Helps Weight Training
Offering benefits ranging from increased endurance to better balance, yoga is an excellent addition to your weight training regimen.
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Do you have trouble staying warm once the temperature starts to drop in the fall? Yoga offers an excellent way to reduce chills and keep your fingers and toes warmer.
How Can Yoga Keep Me Warmer?
Any type of exercise, including yoga, raises your body temperature several degrees. The warming effect lasts for a few hours after you stop the exercise, which helps you stay comfortable despite the chilly weather.
Deep breathing, an essential part of your yoga practice, may also play a role in maintaining a higher temperature. Harvard Medical School researcher Herbert Benson discovered that Buddhist monks in Tibet kept their fingers and toes warmer with a form of yoga known as g-tummo. Dr. Benson theorized that the yoga practice widened blood vessels, improving blood flow to the extremities. According to the results of his 1982 study, forceful breathing increased body heat during meditation, while gentle breathing helped maintain the raised temperature.
Ujjayi breath is one type of forceful breathing you may want to try if you tend to become cold easily. Breathe in deeply through your nose, keeping your throat muscles contracted slightly. Maintain the contraction as you breathe out through your nose. If you perform this type of breathing correctly, you'll hear a hissing sound as you breathe in and out. In addition to offering a natural heating effect, the breathing technique enhances relaxation and may even reduce headache pain. It can be a little challenging to practice Ujjayi breathing while performing yoga poses at first, but you'll soon master the warming breathing.
What Poses Should I Try?
Add these poses to your yoga repertoire to naturally turn up the heat. (As with any form of exercise, get your doctor's approval first if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, a back condition, or other health issues):
Yoga classes can help you stay warm and toasty this fall. Not sure which class is right for you? Contact us and we'll help you find the ideal class, depending on your fitness level and previous yoga experience.
Sources:
New York Times: Basking in Workout's Long, Mysterious Afterglow, 12/20/10
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/health/nutrition/21best.html
Nature: Body temperature changes during the practice of g Tum-mo yoga, 1/21/82
https://www.nature.com/articles/295234a0
Yoga Journal: 3 Warming Breaths: Pranayama Perfect for Winter, 12/5/14
https://www.yogajournal.com/poses/3-warming-pranayama-practices-perfect-winter
Yoga Journal: 10 Steps to Perfect Sun Salutations