How to Stay Warm in the Cold
Tips and Techniques to ignite and maintain your inner fire
It’s cold ya’ll!
(Well, if you live in Denver, it’s been reaching a high of 58 degrees on a regular basis lately - BUT! It is still winter, and this nice weather is sure not to last forever….)
In Ayurveda, the latter half of winter is Kapha season, which is associated with the elements of water and earth - aka it’s wet and cold!! And when those two mix together, we tend to slow way down - physically, mentally, and energetically. And while it can be nice to honor the time of year - moving a little more slowly, getting a little more sleep - there are simple things we can do to stay balanced and keep our own internal fire awake! This post offers both physical exercises and lifestyle support to stay balanced, motivated, and warm this winter season.
*The following techniques can be used individually, or you can put them all together as a sequence!
*Please always listen to your body and be mindful as you engage in any physical activity and ask you doctor if you have any concerns or questions.
Kapalabhati Breath
Also known as Skull Shining Breath or Breath of Fire. This is a breathing technique (Pranayama) that will quickly boost your energy levels leaving you feeling more awake, refreshed, and keep your internal fire hot! I’ve provided simple instructions, but feel free to watch the video as sometimes it helps to see someone performing it.
Sit tall in a comfortable position on the floor or a chair, shoulders, arms, and hands relaxed on your thighs. Take a deep breath in through your nose, and on your exhale, forcefully pull your belly button back and up toward your spine, quickly pushing all your air up and out through your nose. Repeat this process, trying not to actively inhale - the body will do that on its own - so all you focus on is a very active and forceful exhale. Start with 10-20 breaths for 1 round, going as slowly as you need. After your final breath for each round, take a very deep inhale and hold your breath at the top for as long as you feel safe to do so. Then slowly let it go, and notice how you feel before beginning another round or moving on into your day. Practice up to 3 rounds total.
Caution: If you experience light-headedness or dizziness, stop immediately and breath normally. This may be caused by pumping the chest rather than the abdomen which prevents you from taking in enough oxygen, or if you have high blood pressure, please refrain from this technique.
Kundalini Circles
I love this exercise! Otherwise known as Spinal Rotations, these are a gentle yet powerful way to get your energy moving at the beginning of the day, or if you need a midday pick me up. These circles create fluidity and life in your spine, which in turn makes everything else in the body and the mind feel better! (Start video at 0:29)
As you sit tall, either on the floor or in a chair, imagine a central axis line running from your tailbone to the top of your head. As you begin the circles, imagine that you are rotating your spine and rib cage around this central axis line - rounding your way back (exhaling) and extending your way forward (inhaling). You can go big or small, fast or slow - make this movement work for you! Sometimes it can feel nice to pause somewhere that you find a nice stretch happening. Do an even amount of time in each direction. When you are done, sit still and take 3-5 breaths to notice how you feel.
Sun Circles
Taking the idea of the Kundalini Circles a step further, these Sun Circles will wake your whole body up with dynamic and coordinated movement. These can be as gentle or as fiery as you wish - either way it feels good to move the arms, torso, spine, and legs all together with the breath in this refreshing and warming flow.
Stand with your feet in a wide stance and with your toes, knees, and hips slightly turned out. Take a deep breath as you stretch your arms up and out to the sky, like you’re making a big funnel with your arms into your heart. As you exhale, bend into one leg and circle your arms over that leg and down toward the ground. Keep making the circle as you shift the weight to your other foot eventually coming to standing and allowing the arms to complete the circle back at the top. Keep circling in this direction several times until you feel your body start to move as one and some heat building throughout. Take care to go in the other direction for the same amount of time. When you are done, stand tall in a neutral position and take 3-5 breaths to notice how you feel.
Fierce Pose
The name says it all! This pose fires up the biggest muscles in our bodies - our quadriceps. And once the quads start getting fired up - the rest of the body follows suit! You can choose to flow in and out of this pose, or challenge yourself to hold it for 10 + breaths.
Stand tall with your feet a few inches apart, hands together in front of your heart, thumbs touching your sternum. Inhale here, and then lower your hips down and back, bending your knees as close to 90 as you can. Press a little more into the heels, and keep your knees above your ankles so that you can see your toes in front of your knees. Feel the inner legs magnetized together, and then pull the belly button back toward the spine - this might help you get a little taller through the spine/top of head, and more open across the chest. Arms can stay at your heart, or you can extend the arms forward or up so the biceps run alongside your ears - this will be the most active. Just listen to your shoulders and don’t force them to do something they don’t want to do. Breath here.
Revolved Fierce Pose
Variation on Fierce Pose: take this into a twist. Inhale at center (knees still bent!) and twist to the right by taking the back of your left hand to the outside of your right thigh, and your right arm straight back OR by taking your left elbow to the outside of your right thigh and keeping your hands together at heart center. If you’re twisting to the right, remind your left heel to stay active, and encourage your left hip to stay back - keeping your knees in line with each other! Also be mindful to to keep the length in your spine as you twist and avoid compressing or smushing the belly just to “twist deeper”. Use your hand/arm on the outside of your leg as leverage to help you twist, and remind the shoulders to stay down and back. Hold the twist as you breath before switching sides, or flow from side to side with your breath. When you are done, either straighten the legs and fold over into a forward fold (see #9) or stand up tall. Take 3-5 breaths and notice how you feel.
Plank Pose
Any kind of arm balance will quickly bring heat into the body. By firing up the arms, we pump the heart which helps increase heart rate and circulation and therefore internal temperature of the body. They are also really empowering!
From a table top position (hands and knees) spread your fingers wide and make sure your wrists are parallel to the top of the mat. Claw your finger pads down into the ground, and “push the floor away.” Then, without actually moving your hands, try to spin/spiral your hands away from the center of the mat. Keep that going!! Engage your navel toward your spine, and keep your eyes looking just ahead of your fingertips. Step one foot back, toes tucked under, and engage that leg fully. Then, step the other leg back, and viola! You are in plank pose. Keep lifting the belly toward the back, and keep lifting your inner thighs to the sky. Again, keep the eyes looking just a bit forward, and focus on lengthening the crown of your head away from your heels. Don’t forget to breathe! When you are done, come back to table top, and then maybe child’s pose, or simply kneel with your hips on your heels to take 3-5 breaths and notice how you feel.
Locust Pose
Locust pose has a lot of benefits. It opens the heart which helps improve circulation and energy. It strengthens the lower back which helps reduce back pain. And It is done by laying the stomach on the ground and putting slight pressure on the navel center which directly activates our fire center.
Come to the ground and lay on your belly with your legs extended and your arms by your sides. Bring the legs as close together as is comfortable for you, and turn the palms to face down toward the ground. Begin by pressing the tops of all 10 toes down into the ground and lifting the knees off the ground - engage the legs and squeeze them into each other. Keep your pelvis pressing down and with an inhale, lift just your hands and arms up to hip level. Reach your shoulder blades down and back and reach your fingers toward your toes. With you next inhale lift your forehead, shoulders and chest off the ground. Breathe here, or with your next inhale, life the feet and legs off the ground. Keep the eyes toward the ground in front of you a bit.
Think about stretching your body long - feet back, and heart forward - to find more space in the pose. Don’t forget to breathe - it’s okay if the breath rocks you up and down a little bit. Lower down when ready and rest completely, taking 3-5 breaths to notice how you feel.
Forward Fold
This pose is less fiery, however it is really effective at calming the body down, which will in turn improve how your systems function - especially digestion. This pose also still gives us good access to our navel center, where our power and fire live. We even get a bit of an inversion effect here (head is below the heart) which supports circulation.
Stand tall with your feet parallel, about hip distance apart (can adjust the width for your body). Breathe in, and as you exhale, draw your navel toward your spine and begin to hinge at your hips as you bend forward. Keep a slight (or large!) bend in the knees as you drape your torso over your legs. If your hands don’t touch the ground, they can hold opposite elbows, or you can wrap your hands behind your calves and use them to help pull your belly toward your thighs. Be mindful not to sit in your heels - bring the weight forward through the whole surface of each foot - including the toes! Keep reminding the knees to stay soft and the belly button to stay drawn back. Once you’re here you can play with how you can use the strength of your feet and your legs to get longer in your spine and your head closer to the ground. Take several deep breaths here. To come out, soften the knees, bring your hands to your hips, and roll your shoulders down and back. Use your inhale to stand tall. Take 3-5 breaths in standing to notice how you feel.
Variant: Seated Forward Fold
(If you’re doing these all together as a sequence, I’d recommend using this version of a forward fold.)
All the same guidelines and principles apply, you are simply seated on the ground with your legs in front of you. Keep your legs active as if you were still standing on them, even if you keep your knees slightly bent. Draw navel to spine as you hinge forward at your hips and reach your hands down your legs. Avoid the temptation to scrunch up your shoulders while trying to touch your toes - the shoulders have no part of this stretch :) Focus on the action in the legs and lengthening the spine rather than the arms to find the stretch. I like to think about reaching my heart to my toes.
Bridge Pose
This pose is grounding yet energizing. We use a lot of leg power here, and also a lot of strength through our back core muscles. It’s important to remember that our core is 360 - not just on the front of our body! We also open the heart in this pose and receive a small inversion effect which improves circulation and energy levels.
Lay on your back with your knees bent and your feet on the ground about 4-6 inches apart, arms straight and resting by your sides. Snuggle your shoulders a little bit more under your body and keep the back of your head centered on the ground. With your inhale, begin to push into your feet and curl your tailbone up as you lift your hips off the ground. Keep pushing through the feet and the backs of the arms to lift the hips as high as you can. Breathing here, think about keeping your thighs parallel (they like to splay out) and reaching your knees toward the back of your mat. Then think about reaching your tailbone toward the backs of your knees, and lifting your chest toward your chin. Find big belly breaths here. When you’re ready to lower down, draw navel to spine and roll down slowly, one vertebrae at at time. Once lowered, pause on your back, knees bent, and take 3- breaths to notice how you feel.
Ginger Tea
I love making my own ginger tea. Ginger tea will help wake up your digestive fire, and can also settle a grumpy tummy. I like to mince some ginger (how much will depend on how spicy you want it - I like a lot!) and toss it into some boiling water. I’ll steep it for 5-8 minutes, also adding in some lemon juice halfway through (optional). When done, strain into a mug and enjoy! If you need to cut the spice and the acidity, feel free to add a dash of local honey → so good! You can drink this about 20 minutes before a meal and it will help you digest your food a little better.
Less Raw Foods
According to Ayurveda, we might consider eating less raw foods in the winter time and more cooked and steamed veggies/fruits. The idea being that raw foods only add to the cold in our bellies, and we’re trying to balance the season by adding warm foods to our bellies. For example, instead of a smoothie in the morning, trying oatmeal instead. It’s also the time of year when we need more fats and proteins in our diets, which will also help keep us warmer throughout the day. So in the winter - think steamed, sweet, and savory - and you’ll be amazed at how you feel!
Adding Warming Spices
In addition to eating warmer meals during the colder months, you might consider adding warming spices to what you’re cooking! Spices like like black pepper, cumin, ginger, and mustard seeds are a good place to start - they are warming without being spicy. When we go too spicy, it can be like a fire exploded in our tummies instead of gently warming and nourishing them.
Wake Up Early and Move
I know the mornings are dark and cold, but one of the best ways to stay balanced and energized this winter is to wake up early and start moving - even if its 5-15 minutes - it makes a huge difference! This starts our blood flowing first thing and signals to the body and the brain - we’re up! Time to get going. Do this consistently and you will absolutely feel a difference throughout your whole day and over a long time.
Keep Laughing and Smiling
Never underestimate the power of love and laughter to keep you warm! It can be easy to stay inside and sheltered during the winter, so challenge yourself to keep social and spend time with friends and family. Let your loved ones warm your heart from the inside out.