Breathe in and breathe out, while gliding into the warrior pose being sure to engage each muscle with each breath. Rotate through to a sun salutation and feel your body unfold into total relaxation. Namaste.
Often, when we hear about yoga we hear about the physical benefits. The ability is to engage specific muscles in order to reach a desired stamina, as well as to increase flexibility. Many practice the art of yoga for different physical outcomes, especially muscle conditioning or weight loss. However, yoga goes even further than helping you physically, it can help you de-stress from your daily struggles mentally, enhancing your inner harmony, relieve pain, improve your sleep and strengthen your immune system. It is very important to keep in mind that the way you recover and fuel post-yoga is key for overall wellness, that’s why finishing off a yoga session with a cup of warm tea can be essential to your overall health.
Stress – Relief
Stress is in our lives every day. Our anxiety can be triggered in various forms, from being stuck in traffic, running late, multitasking and many more. After dealing with stress throughout the day the best way to unwind is to let your mind and body relax. Yoga is a great way to relieve stress as it is a mind-body practice. The tie between physical and mental disciplines help bodies reach a state of peace as it encourages reflection and being in the moment. After finishing your yoga session, you will be glowing and at peace, and the best way to transition back into reality and help your body remain calm is to enjoy a warm cup of tea. The perfect cup of tea will swathe you with its flavour and aroma, letting you enjoy the bliss of your workout for much longer and your body will be filled with a new positive energy.
Pain Management Benefits
The combination of yoga and tea are also great at helping with pain management. From chronic pains, muscle soreness and stiffness, joint pain and overall physical discomfort combining yoga and tea increases the healing process. Yoga’s fluid and natural movements help align your body and release tension found in your muscles. From your neck to your shoulders and lower back to hips, the various poses will lengthen your body and create gaps between the joint and bones; and overtime you will experience muscle relief, improved flexibility, muscle strength and a larger range of motion than from when you started. To compliment the healing process of pain management Herbal teas are a great post yoga session beverage. With it’s anti-inflammatory properties that help your muscles relax and release from spasms.
Sleep Benefits
Better sleep is another benefit that Yoga practitioners enjoy. There are specific poses that work towards helping you sleep better, such as the uttanasana, halasana or the savasana, however an overall yoga routine will improve your sleep patterns. Improved sleep as a cause of yoga is due to the releasing of stored energy that makes you toss and turn at night. In addition, through meditation you will calm your mind and free the thoughts that keep your mind racing. To boost your relaxation, avoid having coffee at night and switch it up for a cup of herbal or decaffeinated tea, especially after your workout. Many herbal teas are made from the same compounds that promote sleep, like chamomile, and make for a great “sleepy time” tea to calm your body and mind before bed.
Immune System Benefits
Lastly, your immune system will improve after a couple sessions of yoga, which has a variety of benefits for you, such as less colds or flus, decreased cortisol levels and occurrence of infections, symptom management and faster recovery times. By practicing yoga you are stimulating the four main physiological systems that are interconnected to the immune system, these are the circulatory, digestive, nervous and endocrine systems. Yoga routines will stretch your body and strengthen the muscle groups that promote circulation and can in turn make it easier for white blood cells to move through the body and fight invaders. Much like yoga, tea increases your ability to fight disease-causing agents and its antioxidants will help strengthen your immune system.
Here are our top three tea choices that go hand in hand with your yoga session!
Inner Harmony Tea: Made with a mix licorice root, fennel, hibiscus, sage, balm, orange peel, chamomile, coriander, peppermint, rosemary and lavender.
Calming Tea: Blended green tea with tulsi, apple pieces, melissa, orange peel, lemongrass, lime tree petals, lemon verbena, natural aroma, marigold and mallow blossoms.
Immune Support Tea: Fused peppermint, lemongrass, echinacea and cinnamon pieces with spearmint, fennel, cardamom seed, rosehip, ginger pieces, burdock root, cloves, mullein, sweet blackberry leaves, black pepper and natural aroma.