Winter is an important time to practice yoga. Cold, dark mornings and evenings may not be encouraging you to get to your regular yoga class! But it is perhaps the single most important decision you could make to support your mind and body as you move through the coldest season of the year. Here's just a few things to encourage and inspire you!

Feel as good as you can! Research consistently highlights that symptoms of chronic joint pain are exacerbated in winter. In general, practising asana (postures) maintains joint mobility and increases circulation while loosening stiffness within the joints. An essential part of easing pain during this time is to ensure that the body stays warm, as heat also helps muscles to relax and, therefore, asana as a therapy is a soothing way of decreasing joint pain.

Breathe breathe breathe! Breathing via the nose through the practice of ujjayi (victorious) pranayama (breathing practices) will support your lungs and entire respiratory system. Stronger pranayama practices also benefit the lungs and strengthen the relationship between the nervous and respiratory systems.

Elevate your mood! The pineal gland in the brain produces a hormone called melatonin, responsible for balancing the sleep/wake cycles during seasonal changes and stimulated by darkness, and may lead to a condition known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). SAD has been directly linked with a deficiency of melatonin due to the increased dim light during the winter months. Alleviate these symptoms by incorporating inversion postures and surya namaskar (sun salutations - in our flow classes and events) variations into your yoga practice.