Summer has finally arrived in Victoria, and with it the desire to get outside and get some vitamin D from the sun.
In yoga philosophy and the ayurvedic natural medicine system of India, anything that is heat generating is said to be of a pitta (pronounced pita) nature. This includes the weather, and it is often recommended to balance pitta with cooling foods and exercise to maintain homeostasis.
Nature has divinely given us higher water content fruits and veggies to address this and if you tune into your natural appetite in summer, you’ll find yourself reaching for things like cucumbers, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, and melons. Watermelon is a popular favourite in Canada and is the perfect solution to satisfy your thirst and sweet tooth without the negative impacts on blood sugar due to its high fibre content. This delicious fruit is also approximately 92% water and can be eaten quite indulgently without much repercussion. Peaches, strawberries, and nectarines are other delicious high water content fruits.
Another way to beat the heat and avoid a build-up of pitta energy in the body is to practice gentler yoga postures. Modify heat-producing postures like powerful poses by placing a knee on the floor and focusing on some deeper hip flexor opening with some mild strengthening for the quadriceps.
A lovely cooling alternative to sun salutations is its cooling cousin, moon salutations.
Chandra namaskar (moon salutation) is a wonderful alternative to traditional sun salutations with the following interesting sequence that starts on one side of the body and loops itself around to equal out on the opposite side of the body: standing crescent moon to goddess pose to triangle to pyramid to low lunge to side lunge on the left side then crab crawl across to the other side and reverse the above sequence back up to standing crescent moon. To get a good understanding and safe practice of the cooling moon salutation, do a quick Google search, find a video to watch, set up your mat in a quiet space and watch the sequence through once before joining in to get yourself into a smooth flow.
In addition to the above suggestions, try out some yin yoga to generate some balancing cooler energy to the yang heat of summer. Yin yoga practice is also great to balance out vigorous exercise regimes or a stressful time in your life.
Until next time, keep it real.