5 Routines To Avoid While Practicing Yoga
Yoga is a mind and body practice, that has come down from the lords themselves. You will find some common aspects of yoga, that include asanas, breathing patterns, and meditation. No matter which yoga style you practice, you have to encounter these modalities. Yoga can improve your mental and physical condition. Yoga can help you build strength, flexibility, and tranquillity if you keep practicing yoga it frequently. It is the most popular form of exercise today. The various styles of yoga are Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga, to name a few.
Moreover, you will also come across at least six branches of yoga like Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Jnana Yoga, and Tantra Yoga.
When it comes to your yoga practice, you can do it with minimal props and accessories. It is more of a free hand exercise, in which your body is the main accessory. There are not too many restrictions either, that Practicing Yoga brings with itself. But there are a few of them, that you must follow, while practicing yoga. If you do not follow them, you might risk your health.
You should read them below.
Avoid These 5 Routines While Practicing Yoga
Do Not Eat All That You See
You may have already heard, that you must not eat before yoga practice. But many beginners have doubts in their mind, regarding the scientific reasons. Here is why, you should avoid eating before practicing yoga. Yoga involves a lot of bending, stretching, and breathing exercises.
Moreover, you need to direct all your energies towards the inner aura and spirit. If you have had a full meal, just before yoga practice, all the energies are diverted towards the digestion of food. So, you will not be able to concentrate on the higher functions, like reaching out to the universal consciousness. Moreover, if you practicing yoga after eating, it can also lead to cramps and vomiting.
It is advisable that you do not eat sugars and fats, as a post-yoga meal. You may feel tired after yoga, so you may want to make up on all the lost nutrients. Milk shakes and sweet smoothies may lure you. However, you should stay away from them. Fried foods and chips are also not allowed after a workout. Additionally, you can have a healthy meal that comprises nourishing foods, like fruit juices.
Do Not Take Bath
Yogis and your teachers will always ask you not to take a bath immediately before or after yoga. The reason is quite evident. When you have a hot shower, the hot water immediately draws blood from the glands and other organs to the surface of the skin. It also tends to extract the energy that was formed in your body, while practicing yoga. So, it is essential that you avoid taking a bath immediately after practicing yoga.
Additionally, you should avoid taking a bath for at least 2 hours before yoga, as you can see some noticeable changes in your body. A few yoga poses heat up the body, while others cool the body. Thus, if you have a hot water bath or a cold-water bath, it disrupts the body temperature. So, it is quite tough for the effects of yoga to take place.
Do Not Drink Coffee
If you love coffee, or drink it regularly, you probably know, that drinking coffee affects your nervous system. Caffeine, which is the main component of coffee, tends to trigger stress reaction. It also tends to increase the muscle tension and stress reaction. This makes it impossible for anyone to concentrate or focus during meditation. If you want to focus or concentrate on your breathing patterns, then you must avoid any sort of caffeine, before practicing yoga. Yoga is about calming the mind, body, and senses. It also acts towards reaching a goal, of that of developing universal consciousness. In an aroused state, such things are not possible.
Do Not Perform Yoga in Extreme Weather
May yogis and yoga experts will advise you not to practice yoga, in extreme weather, as it may harm you. It is more problematic, if you practice yoga in cold weather. When you practice yoga in hot weather, the heat allows the blood vessels to dilate properly, that lowers the blood pressure. The muscles contract a lot in cold temperatures. Thus, the bones also tend to become brittle. So, if you forget to stretch, it can lead to bad injuries.
However, there are some positive aspects of cold weather as well. But the negatives far outweigh the positives. You can definitely take a cold shower, after practicing yoga, though. Give a gap as mentioned above. (30 minutes)
Avoid Extreme Nature
As mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, you should observe the ‘Yamas,’ when doing yoga. These Are restraints. You should know about them in more detail. They include maintaining Truthfulness, non-violence, not stealing, non-possessiveness, and refraining from sexual relations. There are many more practices, that you should maintain.
Five Yamas
- Non-violence – It is the first yama, which is also called ahimsa. Ahimsa not only means physical non-violence, but mental non-violence as well. You have to practice the act of not disturbing others. So, in turn, you too will not be disturbed. Ahimsa is the most difficult yama of all, as it is practically impossible not to harm anyone, as there are tiny organisms floating in the air at all times. When you drink water, eat food, or walk around, you may be accidentally harming all the organisms. As a yogi, you have to cultivate compassion and empathy for all living beings. Ahimsa happens to be the most important yama of all.
- Truthfulness – In Yogic tradition, this is an absolute must. There should be complete corelation between your words and thoughts. Then, only you are said to practice truthfulness. Traditional yogis suggest all yogis to practice truthfulness on a daily basis. However, it should not interfere with non-violence. You cannot hurt anyone, with your true words. You should carefully think and then say something to others. This is what Truthfulness is all about.
- Asteya or Not Stealing – ‘Steyam’ means stealing in Sanskrit. Asteya means not to steal. You have to practice this both mentally, as well as physically. You cannot practice this, if you do not practice non-violence or truthfulness. Many people might adopt violence or non-truthfulness while taking things that they do not have any right over. So, basically Asteya means that a yogi should refrain from even thinking about anything, that does not rightfully belong to them. The whole idea of ownership of someone else’s object should not be there in the yogic practitioner’s mind. Moreover, as a yogi, one should not think about others things even in sub-consciousness. A yogi also needs to give up on egoism, attachments, and ownership, etc.
- Refraining from Sexual Activity – You might have heard about ‘Brahmacharya’. It means restraining and controlling, the sexual organs. It is done in order to conserve the sexual energy. If you put that energy into good use, it can benefit one in a huge manner. If you practice self-control, you also gain purity in return. A Brahmacharya is a yogi, who is self-controlled and also practices self-purification. The aim is to get rid of all kinds of desires, attachments, and past life memories. That is what Brahmacharya is all about. You have to practice it mentally and physically as well, just like the other ‘Yamas.’
- Non-possessiveness – It is also called ‘Aparigraha.’ It is a renunciation of all kinds of worldly desires. Moreover, if you are able to practice this, you are one step ahead of the rest. It is this aspect, that can give rise to detachment. If you can reach this stage, you have conquered quite a bit. Additionally, there are many people who try to obtain many worldly possessions, by acts of crime, deceiving others, and through violent activities. If you do not have the willingness to obtain the possessions, you will also not harm the others. That leads you quite easily to the other stages of Yama.
While it is absolutely essential, that you start practicing the above routines, as early in your yoga practice as possible, you need to keep in mind a few minor aspects as well. It is always important to strike a balance between physical exercises, and mental ones as well. Overdoing anything is always bad for health, both physical as well as mental. You should also take care of your sleep and nutrition.
Minor Routines That You Need To Take Care Of
After you have decided to tread on the above pathways, you may still need to make some minor changes in your lifestyle. You should mainly do everything in moderation. To much or too less of anything, is detrimental for health. Pay attention to your body, so that you do not feel fatigued or tired. Do refrain from having oily and fried food as well.
You must also ensure to do Sukshma Byama, which is nothing but light exercises, before you start your yoga workout. Warming up can give you several benefits over others. You must rotate your neck, shoulders, hips, ankles, and knee joints so that these areas can endure the yoga practice. Practicing yoga will also help you to stay away from injuries.
You may take up yoga, while healing some old injuries. That is practically fine. The human body is like a machine. You have to keep it well-oiled at all times. When you are practicing yoga, to get healed, or recuperate, you must practice slow yoga. Gentle movements are what you should be doing while practicing yoga.
Moreover, it is important that you practice yoga at a specific time every day. In this manner, you will be putting your body into a rhythm. Some follow sessions early in the morning, and some people practice in the evening. You ought to choose a time, that is suitable for you. If you want to start with Surya Namaskars, it is always advisable to do it in the morning.
Ensure not to wear tight clothes. It is essential to wear light and loose-fitting clothes. When you wear the latter, you can comfortably move around. Moreover, you will be sweating a lot during yoga. If you do not wear loose-fitting clothes, the sweat will get stuck, in your clothes and will make you sick.
You also need to remember not to do, ‘feet-up poses’, when you are having your menses. It is always advisable to do normal slow poses and practice breathing exercises. You must always ensure to do the above to get the maximum benefits from your yoga poses.
Guidance is extremely important, when you are seriously considering becoming a yogi. If you do not get serious about your practice, it is likely that you will feel held back. You may not be able to reach the ultimate goal of yoga. A learned guru can help you on the above path. Moreover, you will also get to know in detail about how, and why you are supposed to refrain from certain activities, and why and how you should practice certain others. This judgement is extremely important, when you are steering through the journey of a yogi.
Sattvic food also has a huge role to play, when you are trying to reach the highest level of consciousness through yoga. Your bladder and bowel should be clear, when you are practicing yoga. Tray to stick to a routine to gain the best results from your yoga practice.
Final Words
If you are a spiritual seeker, the ‘Yamas’ assume a lot of importance in your practice and life, in general. Niyamas are the ethical guidelines as laid down by Patanjali. Follow the guidelines regularly and practice according to them. This is open up the possibilities in front of you. Your mind and body’s purity are extremely important, when you are trying to walk the path. In this path, you will face several hindrances. You can face and fight all the obstacles only, when you follow the dos and don’ts of practicing yoga.
