Are dark days bringing you down? Are you slowing down and wishing you could sleep all day? Or do you have a tendency to become lethargic or depressed during this season? Then keep reading, this post is for you!

The dosha for Wintertime is the Kapha (Water), followed by Vata (Air)

Ayurveda is an ancient holistic healing system from India. In Ayurveda there are three dosha’s (faults) that are used to balance your personal health. We all have all three dosha’s in us. If all three dosha’s are in balance, you are healthy.

People tend to have a predominant dosha and if this one corresponds with the season, the dosha can become even more dominant. The three dosha’s are: Air (Vata), Fire (Pitta) and Water (Kapha). Which dosha is predominant in you, has to be diagnosed by a Ayurvedic doctor. There are some small tests online to give an idea. But still this is not fully accurate.

The predominant dosha for the winter season is Kapha, with Vata following behind. In the next post you’ll find more info on the Air dosha (Vata) in winter. In this post the Kapha dosha will be the main subject.

Kapha dosha

The qualities of the Kapha (the water and earth element) are: heavy, dark, steady, solid, soft, lubrication, cold. A Kapha type of person can have characteristics of wintertime. You slow down, you want to sleep more and feel cold a lot of the time. Coughs and problems breathing, prone to depression and a feeling of lethargy. The positive qualities are for example patience, empathic, forgiving, contentment, strength and stamina.

So what to do when you feel lethargic or slow in winter?

What you can do is pacifying your Kapha dosha by doing the exact opposite; getting out of bed early, go for a nice run to warm up your body. You need more of the Fire qualities in you to bring the Kapha more in balance. Go be active and do more than you would usually do. Notice the change in your system. The deeper sleep you get and how you feel warmer throughout the day.

Winter Yoga Sequence for Kapha

Do yoga to warm up your body and for action. More powerful yoga like Ashtanga and Hot Yoga are good to fight off this winter blues. But as well at home you can do Yoga that will awaken your strength, warmth and willpower to make going through winter a piece of cake.

The following asanas and warm up’s can help you to literally warm up and gain willpower to keep going. Make sure to do the poses with some power and if you can a little faster than you are used to activate your Fire. Make sure to keep focus, to prevent injuries. They are arranged from the top to the bottom chakra, which is the direction for waste excretion down the body.

Warm-up

• Do three rounds of Breath of Fire (Kapalbhati); warming up your stomach, intestines, up to your skull.
• Do six rounds of Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskar)
• Do six times double leg raises, also to warm up the core muscles

Six Yoga Poses for Kapha in wintertime

1. For willpower do your one-legged, half or full headstand (Shirsasana) without a wall. Extend the time you can stand in this pose. Do variations to challenge yourself. Set a focus or goal for this one and keep this up. Work on your determination to set this one through. Gain the strength to keep going even when the days are short and the nights are dark and long. (When you come down do a Camel or Childpose to relax the neck).
2. Do an Inclined plane (Poor Votan Asana) for at least 10 seconds; if you can, extend the time. It warms up your arms and legs nicely.

   

3. Bow pose (Dhanur Asana) to stimulate the internal organs and digestion (10 seconds).
4. Warrior I (20 seconds on both sides).
5. Warrior II (20 seconds on both sides).
6. Take your Shavasana at the end, but not too long. If you tend to fall asleep, prevent that. Naps during the day for a Kapha person will deactivate the energy you just stimulated in the body.

Note that it is easier to do Warrior I & II first on one side. Then change to the other leg. If you want you can do a few rounds of these in a sequence by shortening the hold of the pose (about 10 seconds).

Make sure not to drink (cold) water during or just after your practice. It will literally extinguish the fire you just started in your body.

Diet

Eat more spices and colour in your food (Fire dosha) to awaken the activation in you. Drink warm fluids, spicy teas. Eat warm meals for lunch. Don’t eat too many white processed foods like diary and fats as we are prone to gain weight easily during winter. Use ginger in or before every meal. I also advise to use extra D3 supplements. In this time of the year the amount of sun is extremely low and certainly not enough to maintain a healthy D level in the body. Of course advise your own GP beforehand.

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Om Shanti

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