Moving into winter- yoga as a tool for body and mind

As we move into the winter season and the days become shorter, it’s natural to want to withdraw inwards and seek solace on the sofa in a warm blanket with a cup of tea (maybe that’s just me!). And yet it’s one of the busiest times of the year, with Christmas lights twinkling, the social calendar filling up and deadlines for work or study assignments looming large. Several of the ancient traditions such as Yoga and Qigong encourage us in fact to use the winter season to restore so that we replenish our energies for the Spring season to come. Luckily, practices such as Yoga and Qigong are accessible, with no fancy equipment required and can be practised anywhere, including in the comfort of your own room.

There are many benefits to practising yoga. On the physical level, regularly moving your joints through a pain-free range of motion is beneficial for long-term health and mobility. It’s particularly helpful as we age but also aids mobility even when younger, especially, for example, if much of the day is spent rounded over a computer. Yoga also improves strength using only your own body and improves flexibility, although you certainly don’t need to be flexible to enjoy and benefit from Yoga.

Yoga also works with the body, heart and mind, so the benefits work on several levels. As we start to move slowly in Yoga, you may find your thoughts also naturally recede. In fact, many of the historic yoga postures were designed to help us sit more comfortably for the ultimate practice of meditation rather than manoeuvre into complex shapes. In addition, Yoga provides an opportunity to step away from the list of daily tasks- like a respite that soothes the mind, body and soul. We become more aware of mindful practices, such as feeling the air on our skin and tuning into the sounds around us. Practices such as Yoga and Qigong also work with the seasons, for example, practising energetically cooling postures in summer, and grounding postures in changes of season. Even standing in a ’simple’ posture such as Tadasana, Mountain Posture, with bare feet hip width apart on the mat and spine rising tall, can help us feel more grounded. Yoga or similar practices can therefore become part of your toolkit to help with the pressures of study or exam stress and anxiety.

Yoga is also a rich and vast form of study incorporating philosophy and history as well as anatomy and other subjects. I studied Classics when at Cambridge under the inspirational MM Mackenzie (Murray Edwards (formerly New Hall), 1988-1991) and was particularly interested in the philosophy components of my yoga teacher training. Sanskrit is also a beautiful ancient language with a deep resonance of its own. I am no Sanskrit scholar, but I have enjoyed exploring some of the verses of, for example, the Bhagavad Gita, the 700-verse text that is part of the epic work, the Mahabharata, and in which the god Krishna counsels Arjuna, the warrior, the day before an epic battle between cousins. Topics covered include duty, living a righteous life and the nature of the soul and all are amazingly relevant still today.

I personally didn’t start practising Yoga until my mid-twenties after I had left university. However, I know I would have benefited from practice when in college and through some of the inevitable ups and downs of student life, like an anchor that is always there whatever else may be happening externally (and maybe particularly internally). Now, I know that time out from work or study can in fact help you return refreshed and revitalised and with a clearer mind. But it is also a practice, and practice needn’t be long- even 10 minutes daily of mindful walking, gentle movement or breathing, or rolling out your mat can be beneficial.

So, as we enter the final stretch before Christmas and year end, know that it is more than fine to take time out for yourself and restore your energies, however you choose, before re-entering the festive fray. Time at university (and maybe particularly at Cambridge) or work can be intense- Yoga and similar practices are there, always, to help keep you grounded and centred, whatever the metaphorical weather.

About Sian

Sian O'Neill is Founder and MD at the publishers, Globe Law and Business. She is also Editor of 'Yoga Student Handbook' and 'Yoga Teaching Handbook' published by Singing Dragon, part of Hachette.

15% discount to all Murray Edwards alumnae

Sian has kindly extended a 15% discount to all Murray Edwards alumnae. The code is MUREC15 and must be applied at checkout. The code is applicable to the publisher’s entire yoga list and will entitle people to 15% off their order. Valid until 31/12/25 and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.