Pitta Pacifying Yoga Poses
Summer is Pitta season. Pitta is made up of the elements of Fire + Water. The heat and humidity of summer in the Northeast, naturally increases Pitta dosha. When Pitta gets out of balance it can cause skin issues, acidity, heartburn, hot flashes, burning sensations, loose stools, blood/liver problems or feelings of irritation and anger. If you are prone to excess heat issues, there are foods and lifestyle changes that you can make. (If you haven’t read my articles on Pitta, please take a look at Summer Health Tips and Summer Recipes. In these articles I talk about Pitta pacifying diet and lifestyle. ) These changes should include how you practice Yoga.
If you take my yoga classes, you may have noticed that my teaching has shifted. In Spring most people need more invigorating and heating poses. In Summer calming and cooling poses should be emphasized. This doesn’t mean that classes have gotten easier but that there are more cooling poses, breaks between poses and opportunities to release excess heat.
If you practice at home, you should incorporate more:
Seated poses
Relaxing breaths between strong poses
Standing and seated forward bends
Twists
Gentle backbends like low Cobra/Bhujangasana and Fish Pose
Wide-legged Poses like Triangle/Trikonasana and Seated Wide-legged forward bends
Moon Salutations
Cooling poses like: Legs Against the Wall/ Viparitikarani and Shoulderstand
Sitali or Sitakari yogic breathing/Pranayama
Extra time for Relaxation/Savasana
The overall effect of practice should be cooling and calming.
If you have a lot of heat you should avoid:
Hot Yoga
Strong Vinyasa
Competitiveness
Lots of deep backbends
Limit abdominal work and hand balances
Heating poses and sequences like Sun Salutations
Heating Pranayama