BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Yoga Outdoor Yoga Tips

Yoga is a wonderful way to regain balance in your life, increase your flexibility and core strength, and reduce stress. Yoga is even more fantastic when you can breathe in the fresh air of nature while you are working through your routine!

Here is my outdoor yoga setup. As you can see, it is extremely simple to create your own yoga "studio" in nature! All you need is a good mat and some space. If you currently have a very thin mat, I would invest in a thicker mat for your outside efforts. It can make a real difference in how well you enjoy the experience.

To begin with, try to have a flat area to lay the mat down on. The mat is thick, but you can probably still feel any rocks or sticks poking through it.

When choosing a location for your mat, make sure there is ample room around your mat for your arms and legs to move. You want to have at least a mat width of space on either side of the mat lengthwise, and some clearance at the head and tail end as well.

Wear sunscreen. Even if it seems the sun is not that strong, or it is cloudy, the dangerous rays that can cause skin cancer are still coming down at you. Sunscreen will help protect your skin and ensure you stay healthy for years to come. I even wear a hat if it is fairly sunny out. I have a boonie hat that has a strap on it. That way it stays on even when I am in a head-down position.

You can make your own garden by bringing in basket flowers or other types of plants, as shown in my photo. Whatever type of flowers or environment you want - tropical, English garden, herbal - you can create it easily with containers.

Often there will be one view that is lovely and other views which are less appealing to you. Take some time to try different orientations out and find the one that works best for you!

I love the sounds of birds chirping, but if your outdoor location has less lovely sounds, bring along an ipod with small speakers. Don't try to wear the iPod while you do the yoga - the cords can get challenging! Instead, set up the iPod near the mat with the small speakers aimed at you. You can play whatever type of music most suits your yoga style.

Be sure to bring along a reusable container of water. You can get thirsty after doing a yoga session, and hydration is very important!

Finally, I often bring paper notes with me to guide me along whatever routine I want to do for the day. Be sure to have something you can put on top of the paper - your shoes, the water bottle, a rock - to keep the paper from flying around.

Enjoy!

I was outside again today - it was almost too hot! Weather.com says it's 67F out there, it was hot and sunny. I think I like lukewarm weather I had my hat on. Hardly any clouds, just some stream-like ones!





I did my same 15 minute routine. My wrists kill me by the third set of downward dog - plank - cobra! I need stronger wrists.

Hi Lisa,

Thanks for the great details on your outdoor yoga studio. Some traditional yogis advise against practicing in direct sunlight, something I take with a grain of salt!

I too love practicing outside and have several private clients during the summer who opt to practice out on their lakefront docks. Talk about paradise :-)

A thought or two about your wrist pain -- Yoga really isn't suppose to hurt!

The next time you are in down dog check out your hand position. Your fingers should be spread wide apart with index fingers pointing straight ahead and wrist creases parallel to your mat.

Gently cup your fingers and make sure the tips are firmly pressing into the floor and your whole palm is connecting with the floor too, especially the webbed area between your thumb and index finger.

If you still experience pain, I would suggest placing a folded towel beneath the heels of your hands to elevate the wrists slightly taking off some of the wrist pressure.

Hope this helps!

Martha - I definitely am sensitive about being burned so today it was so sunny and hot that I waited until dusk before I went out.

My wrists are really weak so I think it was just that I hadn't done yoga in a while. Today I paid very close attention to my wrists and they only began to hurt a bit at the very end of my downward dog sequence set, i.e. on rep #10. So I think I am strengthening them back up. I remember them hurting like this back when I first started yoga.

I will remember the towel idea if they hurt tomorrow, but I think I might be over the "hump" of starting out!

Funny outside "problem" - the neighbor's cat came over and started swiping at me!



I was intrigued by the dead tree on the left side of the lawn, staring at its branches during the corpse pose part





I figure if I take photos that it will encourage me to keep doing this daily!

Hi Lisa, that's great. I just want to make sure that everyone doing yoga remembers to take care of themselves in the poses and make adjustments so they don't hurt.

Of course there are differences between dangerous pain and okay pain. I always say a little dull aching pain is fine and usually a sign that we are working and strengthening and stretching safely. Any pain that is sharp or really uncomfortable is best avoided with a modified pose!

I love that cats and dogs always want in when we practice yoga. They definitely sense the good energy I think.

Love the photos!

I have done several nighttime yoga sessions since this and have really enjoyed them! I definitely recommend doing yoga outside

And my wrists don't hurt any more, at least during the 10 repeats of downward facing dog to cobra! So my wrists are becoming more strong already

Sometimes it's hard to see that yoga is far more than a physical activity confined by time, space, and a mat.Too often we rush to class to secure a spot on the studio floor and begin our practice without taking note of our surroundings.i found another one sites "yogasuppliesonline.com". They are giving good information about yoga tips......