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| Hello---I'm going to be housesitting at a place with a BEAUTIFUL garden and patio in a couple of weeks, and I can't stop visualizing myself out there practicing slow, technically perfect yoga poses (it's a fantasy, right?), basking in the sunny late September.
Anyway, I've always read that you shouldn't practice in direct sunlight, but I've never heard the exact reason why. Is it a spiritual thing? An internal organ thing? Or simply a matter of being careful and not getting heat stroke? I mean, on the yoga DVDs you see people like Rodney Yee practicing on the sunny beachfront.
If anyone knows more about this, let me know. I did a search for "direct sunlight," but nothing too specific came up. Thanks! |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Well, I wouldn't worry too much amount some sunlight..however, you may want to use a nice sunscreen, and do it in a partly shaded area...especially if your not used to it. Just chant Om Shri Surya Devi ya Namaha...you should be fine. If your going to be in a garden area, remember this time of year is when the yellow jackets and wasps are at their finest...meaning that they are more aggressive this time of year and smells (i.e. new people, body lotions, perfumes) will attract them - they will want to check you out. Wearing lemongrass (put about 15 drops in a 1oz spray bottle filled with water - and keep it handy) will help keep them and other insects at bay. You can also use cintronella but don't wear it because it is very strong and you may have a reaction to it. Burt's Bees makes a cintronella incense burner which could be used at a distance, I wouldn't want to breath it in while doing yoga. You could try another fragrance but they really like the smell of incense too, 
Have fun. I wish a perfect yoga session in the sun - outdoors...highly unlikely perfect, but it should be quite enjoyable to some kind of degree,  |
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| Yoga, especially Sooryanamaskar should be practice in a very mild rays of Sun. It is very good and gives Warmth, Vitamin D, and ability to pray to the GOD Sun face to face. Now, when the Sun is very hot, all this is reversed. So, it should not be practiced in hot Sun.
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Well, Yea, it would be good NOT to do Surya Namaskar in the very HOT sun, Today in NC it is very mild weather. My house is surrounded by trees with the sun shining through...therefore, to do Surya Namaskar is kinda perfect, you can move around easily and get out of the direct sun, but yet have good access to it - and it's not that hot. I always understood that you can do Surya Namaskar without the sun and on a rainy day, what do you think Neelbhai?? In fact, I've watched Satyam do Surya Pooja on a rainy day and all of a sudden the sun would appear - even if briefly just to say Hello, okay, I'm going back into the clouds now, |
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| i think the general rule of thumb to protect one's skin (if it's fair) is to avoid direct sunlight between 10 am and 4 pm. which means, then, that you can get direct sunlight during these hours with less damange to the skin.
generally speaking, this is when i do outdoor practices--before 10 and after 4. generally speaking, i practice from 7-8 in the morning. in spring, summer, and most of fall, there's lots of sunlight at this time. in the winter, it rises as i practice--and usually it's way too cold for me to practice outside during winter anyway. i can do it, but it's not my preference.
but, that's not really a yoga tradition based answer. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
  
| Yes, the "no sunlight" rule is more like "not in the hot sun" so you don't get sunstroke or burned. Outdoor practice can be lovely! I did one recently on the deck of a cottage right by a quiet lake which happened to have lotus flowers blooming in it. So nice  Some advice from one of my earliest outdoor practices - 1) Do not "spot" your head position in trikonasna by the clouds - they are moving!  if an ant crawls on you in headstand, do not attempt to brush it away with one hand!  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
I'm not a fan of sunlight for my yoga. Outdoors is hard for some things too.
Consider any pose in which you look up while balancing (Vashistansana, eg).
The big blue sky gives you no visual reference frame at all, so that balancing
is actually rather hard.
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| Namaste and welcome to the forum, Lisa.
I guess the reasons to do yoga rather indoors are plenty. I once tried to practice in the garden and was very distracted by insects, noises, sun, the uneven ground and many more factors. Yeah, it may seem very natural and romantic but the reality is not that glamorous. And please notice that most yogis you can see practicing at sundrenched beaches or shady forests went there for the sole purpose of the photo shooting. Sad but true.
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| i look at my upper thumb in va****hiasana. or at my lower hand. if there is no spot on the ceiling or if there is no ceiling, i find the fingertips to be good. |
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Direct sunlight: how bad?
