I love to take my mat outside and venture out in nature. In doing so, I gathered up a few helpful tips by experience.
A few hints of caution and preparation
Don’t practise in the direct sunlight. When you are active and in the full sun, you might get a sunburn, get heat stroke or in a milder case, you will end your practice with a big headache. So make sure you protect yourself by practicing in the shade. Drink lots of water to stay hydrated. When practising in the park, wear mosquito repellent to keep those bugs at bay.
Yoga in the park
Grassy areas provide the perfect setting to do some more adventurous yoga; Balancing standing poses, hand balances, arm balances to name a few. With often uneven ground, the challenge of standing balancing poses gets even more fun! Make use of the trees that are around to practise your Urdhva Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) or your Pincha Mayurasana (Forearm Balance) against. No big worries when you topple over; the softness of the green ground provides a welcome cushioning (compared to your hard floor at home or local studio) and a comforting idea when things get a bit wobbly.
Yoga on the beach
If you don’t mind coming home with sand virtually everywhere (hair and ears included!) the beach is a wonderful place to practise your yoga. Not the place most suitable for Sun Salutations (sand will be flying everywhere) but the beach gives rise to a great and solid foundation so static poses which you can hold for some time will be fantastic to do. All standing poses are good for the beach. For more advanced yogis, a sandy floor is also great to practise your freestanding Sirsasana (Headstand) and Drop backs are good to try out on the slope of a dune.
Any other suggestions? I’d love to hear where you like to practice this summer and what poses you do!
Love, Sandra
