from Mayo Clinic Site
Words from one of the Yoga Therapy Module last year – in the Ayurveda section.
Sometimes living in a very mild climate (California has mild climate … lovely mild Mediterranean climate envied world over), our sweat glands are not stimulated enough. Spoiled in such ideal climate, when we travel to places like Singapore, Japan, other tropical hot places of the world with sweltering temperatures with high humidity, we wither away in exhaustion.(that was me, lol) There, we cannot live without an AC and …still, we simply … wilt because our sweat glands are out of shape. To prevent that and for general day-to-day health, based on Aryuvedic health prescription, we are well served when we engage in an activity that allows us to perspire at least once a day … (I can explain this in posts to follow – checking my notes:) There is a belief that heating the body flushes out the toxins and some even believe that the heat can prevent or reverse cancer and other serious illnesses from lodging in ourselves. Provided that one is prudent to avoid heat strokes with enough hydration and intake of electrolysis, heat that causes us to perspire can be beneficial and history is a testimony to this belief prevalent in many cultures such as in sweat lodges in Native Indian cultures; Russian Banya; Finnish Sauna, Japanese Sento(and the sweltering summers!), Turkish Hammam …
So off I go – a chilly day for the Bay Area to turn on my inner heat by doing some yoga. Get some heat or turn on the natural furnace we have within:) Feel the beads of perspiration on your skin … then just relax and chill:) As Judith Lasater’s book title would say “Living Your Yoga”!
