Although it’s getting colder outside we were still doing yoga by the sea on Sunday mornings at 09:00 in Scarborough and every other week at 11:30 in Whitby until we came back into lockdown. We'll hopefully start up again as soon as restrictions begin to ease. In the meantime you can still get your yoga fix online through our zoom classes by heading to the booking page and reserving your space.
While we wait for lockdown restrictions to ease I thought we'd take a look at what to wear when practising yoga outside during the winter months. I think the benefits we receive from practising outside are well worth it as long as we wrap up warm.
Here is our guide to what to wear for yoga by the sea:
Layers with room to move
Lots of layers are the key so that you can reduce as necessary as we transition through more intense sequences and then increase as we wind down towards Savasana. Try to find layers that are breathable and allow movement as you flow between different poses.
Socks
Socks will help keep your feet warm, anything with a grip on the bottom will give you better connection to the mat, so if you have a pair of toasties they could be a good option or there are various specialist yoga socks available. I have tried socks with and without toes.
These socks are Gaiam no-slip yoga socks and are very grippy, the only drawback is if you have longer second toes than your big toe they can be very tricky to get on. Once on they are great but it feels like the amount of overstretching in the second toe will lead to them wearing out sooner rather than later.
I also have a pair of Sweaty Betty barre socks which are much easier to put on but not as stable as the Gaiam socks as there is no grip underneath the big toe.
Finally for socks I’ve not put these into practice yet but have them in reserve for those super cold days. They are an old pair of animal slipper socks which will keep my feet super toasty and still have some grip on the bottom too.
Hat
With an uncovered head we can lose a large proportion of our body heat through our heads so wearing a hat is great for those colder mornings, if you get too hot you can always take it off. You'll usually see me sporting my Happy Seal Yoga Beanie.
Gloves
As it gets colder gloves are also essential, again anything with a grip on will help you keep good aligment in your poses and also stop you slipping and falling.
I’m currently using these gloves from Trailheads which are warm, grippy and have phone friendly tips so I can still post pictures of you all doing yoga after class!
Blanket or dry robe
As we finish class in Savasana (corpse pose) we will be lying still for several minutes so having something you can wrap up in such as a dry robe or a nice fleece blanket will really help you to enjoy your final minutes of relaxation.
I'm looking forward to flowing with you outside once more as soon as we are able to do so. In the meantime I hope to see you for online yoga through the power of Zoom. Stay safe and see you soon!