The Most Effective Yoga Exercises Against Cold
Bad weather can no longer harm you: With these yoga exercises for the common cold you will get through autumn and winter in good health.
Never have a cold again
It sounds almost too simple: make calm movements for a few minutes, breathing deeply and bringing the mind to rest – and the sniffling nose loses its terror. An ideal remedy for a cold. And it really works. Because meditative exercise such as yoga relaxes you right down to your toes – and cold viruses don’t like that at all: “There are proven connections between the reduction of stress and a positive effect on the immune system,” explains Professor Wilhelm Bloch, head of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Sports Medicine at the German Sport University Cologne. Because when the head is stressed, the body releases stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol – and they shut down the immune system. But yoga slows down stress, and our immune system has the strength to fight the viruses. Studies have shown that such meditative exercises actually boost the body’s defences and help against a cold – and that within a short time.
In the park, at the lake or on the balcony, the yoga exercises even bring a little more. Because the moderate exercise in the fresh air stimulates the immune system particularly intensively. Because the cool air moistens the heat-affected mucous membranes, unwanted intruders such as viruses and bacteria are flushed out again immediately. And the lungs are flooded with an extra portion of oxygen – especially now that we are indoors a lot, a boon for body and brain cells and an ideal remedy for a cold. Simply take a deep breath – the idea itself is already relaxing.
The meditative yoga exercises also intensify and slow down the breathing. This not only helps against a cold, but has also been proven to help with respiratory diseases such as asthma or bronchitis.
Yoga also promises relief for many other health problems: whether headaches or backaches, stomach problems or digestive disorders, high blood pressure or overweight, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. The combination of gentle movements and conscious breathing gradually regulates almost all body processes that are more or less directly related to stress: sleep disturbances, lack of energy, anxiety or depression. It almost seems as if Yoga was not invented in warm India, but in the dull grey German winter. And the best thing about it: it’s really fun.
As if blown away
Wind is an element that fascinates yogis very much. They call it VAYU – and by this they mean all aspects of the life energy PRANA, which is active in our body. In the yogis’ imagination, it is this wind that, for example, kindles our “digestive fire” and also keeps all other metabolic processes going. The wind stimulates us internally, but also spiritually. Because it blows everything around, even that which has been frozen in us for a long time. In this way it also restarts processes that have come to a standstill. Wind moves, whirls up and keeps us on our toes – wonderful.
But the wind can also make us fidgety and nervous when our lives are already restless and turbulent. When there is a storm and wind in such phases – outside the door or inside – we need stability and steadfastness so that the wind doesn’t blow us away.
Our exercises adapt to both faces of the wind: You can either walk with the wind, use its power and blow away what is weighing you down with a strong breath. Or you can learn to resist its pressure and feel like a lighthouse in the roaring sea.
Sail like an albatross
Get into a stable standing position: place your feet about shoulder width and turn them a little bit outwards. Feel the inner axis running through your body like a plumb line from the crown of your head. Spread your arms sideways at shoulder height. Stretch them out far above your fingertips into space, like an albatross spreading its wings. Turn around the vertical axis: Breathe out in the rotation and breathe in again when you cross the imaginary centre line. Feel the air under your arms and sail like an albatross on the wind… Continue for 1-3 minutes. Then lower your arms, move your feet a little closer together and feel them.
Drop what complains
Stand with your feet as wide as your pelvis and make sure you have some space around you. Raise both arms stretched to the upper right. Look up at your hands and take a deep breath. Let your arms fly swinging up to the left and look at your hands. Exhale through your mouth with a sound of “Ha! Swing your arms back and forth and inhale deeply through your nose. Give this movement as much energy as if you wanted to throw everything that weighs you down and burdens you far behind you or to the side. Continue with this movement for 1-2 minutes, making it more energetic and energetic. Afterwards, feel it for a moment while standing still and observe how this movement warms you up and stimulates the blood circulation.
Stand like a lighthouse in the surf
Place your feet slightly less than pelvis width and parallel. Keep the outer edges of the heels and the ball of the big toe firmly on the ground. With the next inhalation, lower your pelvis far down and back and raise your arms. As you exhale, stretch your legs again and lower your arms. Continue with this for 1-2 minutes in the rhythm of your breathing. Breathe as slowly, deeply and calmly as possible. Then remain in the powerful squatting posture for a few breaths: lower your pelvis far back and down, anchor the outer edges of your heels firmly to or in the ground, lift your upper body and arms up like a lighthouse in the surf. Continue breathing calmly and deeply. To leave the posture, stretch your legs and slowly lower your arms again. Feel yourself in a standing position and become aware of your improved stability and inner strength.
The Storm-Petrel
The legs are slightly less than pelvis-wide open, the feet parallel. Make sure that you stand on a level surface. Shift your weight to your right leg. Lift both arms while inhaling. When breathing out, lift your left leg backwards and let your upper body and arms sink forward parallel to the ground, if possible. Stretch one breath in length and width. Return to a standing position while inhaling and let your arms sink while exhaling. Repeat this procedure with your left leg as the supporting leg, then again each time. Then stay in the posture; first standing on the right leg, then on the left. In your mind, put your arms and wings directly on the air, and imagine that you are flying through the air like a swallow. Become aware of how the wind moves around you, how it gives lift to the body, carries it. Linger… Afterwards, feel yourself in a state of movement.
The tree in the wind
Stand on a level surface. Shift your weight to the leg that is normally your supporting leg. Nest the ball of your big toe against the floor and press the outer edge of the heel into the floor so that the hip of the standing leg shifts back towards the central axis and the pelvis straightens in the middle.
Roots over the foot of your standing leg in depth and width. Lift the foot of the standing leg and place it against the inside of the knee or thigh. Apply pressure with the sole of your foot and push back powerfully with the area of the supporting leg where your foot rests. This prevents the foot from slipping. Raise your arms sideways upwards – like the branches of a tree. In this way, stay breathing calmly. The supporting leg remains actively in contact with the ground and the sole of your foot.
Align yourself with the vertical axis of your body during the exercise. In order to keep your balance better, fix a point on the ground or on the horizon. Stay like this and feel the wind knocking you down and shaking you, while you stand steady and calm like an old tree and sway gently with the wind… After the exercise is over, feel yourself standing. Maintain your rooting and inner alignment along the vertical axis.
The mountain in the sun
Stand still. Turn your palms forward and spread your fingers. Think of each hand as a little sun. Each finger is a ray of sunshine, and the sun in each palm radiates far into the space around it. Stay like this. Continue to breathe in and out calmly, and feel how the wind and weather activate and invigorate you without giving up your inner peace and stability.