The Benefits of Taking Your Yoga Practice Outside

I'm so enjoying this weather - clear skies, warm sunshine and the energy of spring literally bursting forth. I know it will change soon though so I'm doing my best to appreciate it while it's here, enjoying breakfast and cuppa on the patio and spending a bit more time gardening rather than being inside on the computer or doing chores.

Yesterday I did my practice outside, mainly to make the most of the sunshine, but it had other benefits too.  There were no walls to confine me so I felt much more spacious and expansive but there were a few more distractions - I noticed how much a clematis had grown in just 4 days, a bug landed on my foot and as I looked up to the sky I had to readjust my balance because it felt so wide and open. I did many of the poses in my usual practice but because of the change of environment it felt really different.

Here's a few ways that yoga in the garden can be helpful for your practice, your body and your mind:

You'll be accepting rather than being distracted by disturbances: 

Usually I like to practice in a quiet place so, if the house is busy, I'll take myself off upstairs or out to the Studio and shut the door. Outside, however, it's not possible to do that. I was aware of the birds and insects around me and the sounds of my local community as everyone went about their day mowing their lawns, walking their dogs, taking their children to school and so on. It was a lesson in acceptance. I don't have any control over the ambient noise around me so I just have to let it pass by and not let myself be distracted. This is the basis of meditation, we practice sitting quietly, not getting caught up in what's going on externally. The quote that hangs on the wall in my studio sums it up nicely:

"Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart." (author unknown)

You'll be adjusting to the uneven surface beneath your feet: 

Sometimes I do my practice on the wooden floor of the Studio or living room and sometimes on the carpet in my bedroom. The wooden floor is helpful to root down through my feet and feel strength and stability in the standing poses, and the carpet challenges my balance a bit more which makes me use my core muscles. It's the same when practicing on the grass outside. You'll become aware of the undulations in the ground beneath your feet and you'll need to concentrate more to balance.  The uneven surface helps to build the secondary muscles of the feet, knees, hips, and shoulders. The body has to adjust to this surface, thereby increasing balance, flexibility, and core strength. Be mindful though about doing too many Downward Facing Dogs and other poses when you lean weight into your hands - a smooth hard floor is better so you can really press down with the base of each finger to help keep your wrists safe and your shoulder girdle stable.

You'll be lifting your mood and getting your Vitamin D: 

It's lovely to feel the sun on your skin - it lifts the mood and you'll get your daily dose of Vitamin D too (but see my recent post about Sun Salutations which has an article about staying safe in the sun as well as more info about Vitamin D). Sunshine also increases levels of serotonin which regulates appetite, sleep, memory, and mood. Again, there's a mindfulness aspect in that you can't control the elements - the sun might be hot and you get a little sweaty, or the clouds pass over and the breeze picks up so you feel chilly - you just have to be okay with how things are in the present moment and know that they will change again soon.

You'll be getting an extra oxygen boost:

Practicing outdoors can encourage you to breathe more deeply. When you fully empty the stale air from your lungs and take in big, smooth breaths of lovely fresh air, increased oxygen is brought to the cells, which in turn increases energy. Deep breathing is your own quick, natural and free detox because it revs up the lymphatic system. The blood carries the oxygen and nutrients to the cells and the lymphatic system carries away toxins, so by moving dynamically through your practice and breathing deeply you'll pump the lymph fluid through your body, removing the toxins and reducing other health problems such as high blood pressure, fatigue and inflammation.

You'll get a different view of the world:

You'll be used to looking at your garden from your usual upright position. When you do your practice outside you'll be getting a different view. You'll see trees and plants upside-down or sideways, you might notice little insects, and in your Cobra pose you'll get a close-up look at blades of grass or daisy flowers. You'll notice the little things. It's refreshing and interesting to look at your familiar surroundings like this and you'll appreciate the variety of life within the small space of your back garden.

It felt great to pause my day to take 15 minutes to practice in the garden, being present and observing what was going on in the here and now.  Enjoy these next couple of days of sunshine and make the most of them before the weather changes, as it inevitably will. Leave your mat behind, head outside onto the grass and see how different your practice feels.

How to Practice Tree Pose (Vrksasana) - very appropriate as we're talking about doing yoga outside.

This pose promotes strong leg muscles, abdominal tone, open hips, balance and mental focus.

1. From Tadasana (Mountain Pose) bring your awareness down into your feet. Spread your toes out and shift your weight into your right foot.

2. Bring your hands to prayer position at the heart centre.

3. Lift up your left foot, bend the knee and bring the sole of your foot to your right inner thigh, toes pointing down. If this is too challenging bring the foot down to the inner calf instead - you won't wobble as much and with practice your balance will improve and you can try moving the foot up to the thigh.  It is important that your foot isn't directly over the inner knee joint - it should be either above or below.

Foot on inner thigh

Foot on inner calf

4. Gently draw the left knee back to open the hip.

5. Press your right foot down into the floor, lift your kneecaps and thigh muscles up. Press the sole of the foot into the inner thigh and the inner thigh into the sole of the foot. Lift up through the pelvic floor and draw the abdominal muscles back towards the spine - these adjustments will help you stay steady in this balancing pose. Focusing your gaze on a fixed point straight ahead of you also helps.

6. Next you can raise your arms above your head, either with the palms together or, if your shoulders prefer it, with the hands apart. Stretch up to your full height and breathe smoothly and steadily for 3 to 5 breaths.

Arms wide... or 

... palms together

7. To come out of the pose, bring the hands back to the heart centre and slowly step the foot back down to the ground.

8. Repeat on the other side.



Published in The Telelgraph this week: Meditation - 'as good as drugs' for depression

Meditation is as good as anti-depressants for tackling depression, a major study has suggested.

Researchers at Oxford University say that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy stopped as many people from sliding back into depression as strong medication.

Mindfulness is a form of meditation that encourages people to become more aware of the present moment and their own place in the world, to avoid thoughts spiralling out of control.

The study followed 492 severely depressed adults over two years, half of whom received mindfulness training and the other half who stayed on anti-depressant drugs.

It found 47 per cent of people taking medication slipped back into major depression, compared with 44 per cent of people practicing mindfulness meditation.

"While this study doesn't show that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy works any better than maintenance anti-depressant medication in reducing the rate of relapse in depression, we believe these results suggest a new choice for the millions of people with recurrent depression on repeat prescriptions," said Dr Willem Kuyken, the lead author and Professor of Clinical Psychology at Oxford University.

Figures published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre last year showed that around 50 million prescriptions for anti-depressants are written each year, a seven per cent rise from 2013. In towns such as Salford and Middlesbrough, one adult in six is on medication.

Official guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence urges doctors in England to treat patients suffering mild to moderate depression with psychological therapies. But medication is recommended for more severe depressive illness.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was developed to help people who have experienced repeated bouts of depression by teaching them the skills to recognise thoughts associated with relapse to prevent their conditions escalating.

Study participant Nigel Reed, 59, from Sidmouth, Devon, said the programme had given him a set of skills that had long-term benefits. "Rather than relying on the continuing use of anti-depressants, mindfulness puts me in charge, allowing me to take control of my own future, to spot when I am at risk and to make the changes I need to stay well," he said.

However, some experts warned that the trial was not large enough to come to a definitive conclusion and had not included a placebo group. The research was published in the Lancet.

Good to know that science is backing up what we're doing... and that we're on the right path to wellness in both mind and body :-)


Finally, some photos of beautiful things that might be out there in your garden that you rarely get close-up enough to notice - nature is truly amazing. 

credit: Andy Small

credit: Vyacheslav Mischenko