Embrace your yoga practice during cold and flu season

By Luke Bujarski

Yes, yogis get sick. How should you approach your yoga practice during cold and flu season?

Three considerations: Prevention, detection, mitigation.

Prevention: having an established yoga practice that aligns with the seasonal rhythms of nature will help reduce your likelihood of catching a bug.

Admittedly, this is difficult to prove in a data driven way. Nevertheless, if what doctors say is true then your yoga practice should help deter sickness by promoting sleep, improving digestion, circulation of the blood, and the reduction of stress.

Furthermore, your yoga practice will likely have an impact on certain life choices in terms of what you eat and consume. Stress and anxiety have a direct impact on your immune system. Stress also causes emotional instability which can lead to unhealthy behavior that will make you more susceptible to cold and flu onset. Things like alcohol, nicotine usage, and unhealthy eating. In short, keep practicing to minimize the likelihood of getting sick.

Detection: An established yoga practice will help you to become more sensitive to the early signs of a cold or flu episode.

Detecting a bug early on in its progression will allow you to make wise choices when it comes to bringing yourself back into balance.

Listen to your mind and body and then act accordingly in terms of supplements, diet, movement, and sleep to minimize the time that you spend suffering with your cold or flu.

Mitigation: can your asana (postures) practice help you to recover from cold or flu faster? Again, this is difficult to prove in a data driven way – nevertheless, being sedentary is known to intensify your cold or flu symptoms.

Going for a walk or any kind of movement appears to help the immune system to function better. Perhaps it’s better blood and lymph flow or simply improved function of the mind-body as a whole. This is true before, during, and after your cold or flu.

Listen to your body and move if you can. Adjust your yoga practice. Dial down your asana practice, slow down, focus on the breath, use your power of perception to visualize the anatomy and the organs. Channel the prana in a way that puts your mind at rest from whatever stressors you are currently working through in your life.

In conclusion, maintain a regular yoga practice to keep your body healthy but also use it as a tool to pick up on the early signs of cold and flu infection. Once detected, adapt your practice to help your body heal and repair.