Home practice is wonderful these days. Mornings are getting cold here. We
wear gloves while walking the dog. Most often, it’s still dark out.
I look like a teenager who’s lost her skateboard: a hoodie,
baseball cap, baggie pants, running shoes. The dog and I shiver for
the first two blocks.
Yoga is the best way ever (in the
history of the universe, I am tempted to say) to create warmth in a
body. There are other things that work. Long underwear is good, but
ugly, uncomfortable, and depressing after summer. Sex is good, but
not seven days a week and not at 4 or 5am (if you disagree with this
one, you’re probably too busy for yoga). Spicy food is good and
heats from the inside out, but we don’t cook much, and who wants
jalapenos at that hour?
So. I begin today’s practice with the
intention of creating heat as quickly as possible. I reach up as
though the sunrise depends on it. My forward bend is a strong swan
dive. I hold Plank for a few seconds. I hold Chaturanga for two
breaths. Upward-Facing Dog for two breaths. Already I can feel it.
And by the time I’ve been through two
or three Sun Salutations in my dark living room, there is so much
warmth inside this body that it can stay black outside all day for
all I care. It’s like being your own weather
system.
Do you know this feeling?
Do you have favorite poses for creating
warmth? Why don’t we collect all of them and stay warm through
winter? (Unless, of course, you live at or south of the equator, in
which case you are much smarter than I am.)
Thanks to yoga for generating something
so beautiful from the inside out, and thanks to you for the
conversation,
kristin
Dr.
Kristin Shepherd is a chiropractor, actor, and speaker (About All
Things Wonderful) in North Bay, Ontario. Join her on the web,
on Facebook,
and on Twitter. (And I would join her in the dark, and I would join her big aardvark …)