It’s no ground-breaking idea that taking time out of your day to focus on yourself and practise mindfulness is important, especially when balancing a 9-5 work life. The number of people doing Yoga has risen in the past few years, but now people are ditching the indoor yoga studios and getting outdoors. Introducing outdoor yoga, mixing mindfulness and moving our bodies with the natural world.
We spoke to Xenia from Brighton Yoga, who left indoor yoga studios for the great outdoors.
Xenia started teaching yoga in 2015, and three years later started up her yoga company. Unlike, the controlled environment of a studio, practising yoga outdoors invites you to adapt and flow with the ever-changing conditions, fostering a deeper sense of mindfulness and presence. Brighton, renowned for its beach front, is home to these outdoor yoga sessions.
At the beach, Xenia teaches a Vinyasa flow class, and normal nourishing flow yoga. “The difference of being outdoors is that you can have birds flying around, you can listen to the leaves, you can listen to the bird sound.”
Being one with nature and practising your flow outside has more ways to help your session, Xenia explains, “It’s also different to do it outdoors because the ground is uneven. So for example, balancing poses are way more challenging. Sometimes you can put your arms out and feel the wind, or even use the wind for balance. That’s the difference of being outdoors is using nature in your practice. And I quite like to engage people to, for example, smell or feel the grass. And it’s just that all senses are included in the practice which is amazing.”
Xenia said that a lot of her yogi’s have office jobs so that’s a reason for why they love to do the yoga outside. She went on to say, “It is just a great way to get outdoors, really. Some people are really stuck in there, especially if you work from home. Sometimes you don’t even go out to go to work. So you just wake up, be on the computer all day, and then go to bed. So there could be days where you don’t even go outdoors at all.”
Xenia’s classes are all year round, so dressing in layers is good if you are planning on getting outdoors to do yoga even in the winter time. Her top tips for doing yoga outdoors in the colder months are horses riding trousers. “They are good for yoga because they’re really flexible. Then, of course, an underlayer, beanie hat, a very nice comfortable jacket, rain proofs. And then if you’re really nice and warm, you can go outdoors and it’s just like summer! So I even have a ski jacket on and really nice big boots. And then I can just be outdoors all day long and enjoy being outdoors.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, “scientific evidence shows that yoga supports stress management, mental health, mindfulness, healthy eating, weight loss and quality sleep.” So for those of us who are feeling cooped up in their own city and in the office, finding any local green space and area they can get out in is a place to do yoga.
Always listen to your body and maybe on your next walk in the park, let the grass be your mat and get your body moving.
