There’s no denying that each season holds its own type of energy. The feeling of a balmy Summer evening is a stark contrast to dark Winter nights, or a cold and crisp Autumnal morning versus a dewy warm Spring day. Just as nature changes its shapes and colours throughout thew year, we too benefit from shifting our habits and routines in order to feel our best from season-to-season. When it comes to Summer, it’s all about listening to what your body is craving; humans have evolved to spend warmer months engaging in long hours of low-impact physical activity, foraging, walking, and perhaps swimming and traveling too. Especially on warmer days, you may feel that your usual HIIT workout or power yoga class is a little too intense, and that a walk or swim is what you really need. Sometimes, the longer hours of sunlight can actually make us feel more energised – especially in the morning when temperatures are lower – so if you rise early and truly feel the urge, get outside for a bike ride or jog.

With these types of Summer activities, our yoga practice needs to be one that helps us stay physically and mentally balanced, addressing and soothing new muscles we may be using more, and helping us cool off on hotter days. If you’re enjoying long walks, bike rides, swimming or simply relaxing on a Summer holiday right now, read on for tips on helping your yoga practice support you throughout this season!

Yoga For Long Walks

There’s nothing I love more than a long walk interspersed with a little foraging. In Summer, herbs like Nettle and Mugwort are abundant, and fruits such as blackberries and bilberries are beginning to ripen, which can transform a stroll through the woods into an adventure. If you’ve set out on a long country or coastal walk this Summer, you may notice that muscles like the calves and glutes, and even your feet, ankles and back may be aching the next day. To remedy this, focus on strengthening these limbs, reducing tightness in the feet, and stretching the legs after with these tips:

1. Use the Yogamatters cork massage ball set to roll the soles of your feet on regularly, which can prevent the connective tissue on the sole of the foot from becoming tight and stiff. Doing this type of simple self-massage for a couple of minutes each day is an effective way to prevent plantar fasciitis, and can even release tightness in the hamstrings and back muscles too.
2. Stretch your calves and hamstrings with postures like downward facing dog, wide-legged forward folds, and restorative stretches with the use of the Yogamatters classic yoga belt. After your walk, settle onto a bolster to relax your back muscles, and loop the belt around the ball of one foot. Use the belt to help stretch your leg for 2 minutes, then switch sides.

Yoga For Summer Holidays

Summer holidays are the perfect time to relax, let go of strict routines, and allow your body and mind to re-set before jumping back into daily life. Some time away from the normality of life can provide a valuable moment of reflection – are you living in a way that truly feels good to you? Are there changes you want to make? Are there things you want to let go of when you return to home and work? Whilst you’re lounging by the pool or at the beach, explore the practice of journaling, which is a powerful therapeutic tool for the mind. The Take Two: A Journal For New Beginnings  journal is perfect for emerging back into daily life with a fresh perspective. As well as journaling, these tips can make your Summer holiday even more enjoyable:

1. If you like to get your body moving first thing in the morning, it can be difficult to know how to do this on holiday when your usual tools are far away at home. This is why the practice of surya namaskar or ‘sun salutations’ are the perfect way to move your whole body so you feel refreshed upon rising. Pack the Yoga Design Lab travel mat, and you’ll be able to practice anywhere you like. Move through five rounds of the classical surya namaskar sequence, followed by five rounds of surya namaskar A, and a few rounds of surya namaskar B, and you’ll feel your heart pumping and endorphins flowing in no time! Bonus points if you can do this alongside the sunrise too.
2. As well as indulging in books or magazines whilst on holiday, a guided relaxation or yoga nidra session is a wonderful way to truly relax and re-set your nervus system. Especially if the few weeks before your holiday were a little stressful, give yourself this time to restore and revive yourself with the Total Yoga Nidra CD, in which Nirupta Tuli and Uma-Dinsmore Tuli will guide you through a selection of different practices and a choice of experiences.

More holiday essentials: Travel minimally and in a more eco-friendly way with the S’ip by S’well travel mug, Georganics Spearmint Toothpaste, Malin + Goetz mini eucalyptus deodorant, and the School of Life Cards of Perspective for your mindful moments.

Yoga for swimming

Whether it’s a dip in the sea, a spontaneous wild swim in a lake, or laps of the local pool, swimming requires us to move very differently to how we might usually. Often, swimmers experience tightness in the shoulders and upper back, and if you’ve recently adopted swimming as part of your exercise regime, it can be challenging to breathe efficiently. Try these tips to get more from your swim, and to release tight shoulders:

1. Post-swim stretches require focus on the shoulders and upper back, so opt for simple movements like an overhead stretch, thread-the-needle from an all-fours position, and the arm positions of Garudasana (eagle pose) and Gomukhasana (cow-face pose). To massage tight back muscles, use the Yogamatters cork peanut massage roller, which can deeply massage the muscles either side of the spine.
2. For beginner swimmers, it can be surprising how important breathing properly is in order to move well in the water. Swimmers are known to have great lung capacity, and the act of breathing when practicing strokes like front-crawl can also serve as a relaxation technique when performed well. To enhance your breathing ability, books like The Breathing Book by Donna Farhi and The Power of Breath by Swami Saradananda provide great insights and different techniques. You can also practice coherent breathing, via online guided videos – simply inhale for six seconds, and exhale for six seconds. This practice is also a powerful way to relax the nervous system.

Yoga for cycling

What could feel more ‘Summer-y’ than a bike ride? Pedalling along shady paths or sunny cycle lanes, and exploring new parts of the country are great ways to enjoy this season. Much like swimming, cycling requires us to use different muscles than we might do in day-to-day life, which can result in a lot of tightness the day after your ride. Stretch them out and get back out there asap with these tips:

1. Postures like Virabhadrasana 1 and 2 (warrior 1 and 2), as well as Trikonasana (triangle pose) are great for releasing tension in the lower body, whilst building strength in the legs too. Try seated forward folds, Balasana (child’s pose) and Baddha Konasana (bound angle pose – sitting with the soles of your feet touching and knees dropped out to the side) to stretch the hips, hamstrings and adductors. Especially if your lower back feels tight, add a little height by sitting on the Yogamatters round zafu meditation cushion or the fleece yoga blanket.

Leaning forward and gripping the handlebars of a bike can cause tension in the wrists, shoulders chest and neck. After cycling, practice restorative backbends on the Yogamatters organic cotton buckwheat bolster. Other restorative postures like a reclined Virasana (hero pose) and reclined twist can help release post-cycling tension. Add height to the bolster with cork bricks, and to fully relax and re-set, treat yourself to an organic cotton eye mask too.

Emma Newlyn