The Shala Daily

The stiffness you feel during a winter workout isn’t just inconvenient—it’s your body’s intelligent response to cold, redirecting blood toward vital organs to keep you alive. But as sports medicine specialists explain, this survival mechanism comes with trade-offs that yoga practitioners should understand.

❄️ The Physiology of Cold

When exposed to cold temperatures, the body initiates a cascade of protective responses: blood vessels in your extremities narrow to redirect blood toward your core, causing muscles and joints to stiffen. Shivering generates heat through involuntary muscle contractions. Blood pressure elevates as the heart works harder to circulate blood through narrowed vessels. And balance becomes impaired as stiff muscles lead to unsteady ankles and knees.

Dr. Adam Tenforde of Harvard Medical School explains that rigid muscles “aren’t able to exert as much force and they don’t react as quickly.” When tissue is stiff, you’re more susceptible to strains and tears, and your range of motion becomes limited.

This understanding resonates with yoga’s ancient insight about sthira and sukha—the dynamic balance between stability and ease that Patanjali identifies as the essence of asana. Cold pushes us toward excessive sthira (rigidity) at the expense of sukha (fluidity), creating conditions where injury becomes more likely.

🔥 Why Warming Up Matters More in Winter

The recommendation for a “dynamic warm-up to improve circulation to your extremities” before cold-weather exercise echoes what yoga teachers have long understood: preparation is not optional.

Research on yoga-related injuries shows that providing thorough warm-ups, designing progressive sequences, and avoiding extreme ranges of motion are crucial psychological and physical safety measures. A 2009 international survey found that excessive student effort (81%) and inadequate preparation were primary causes of injury.

In cold conditions, this preparation becomes even more critical. For yoga practitioners, this might translate to Sun Salutations indoors before an outdoor practice or cold studio, joint mobility work targeting ankles, knees, hips, and shoulders, gentle twists to stimulate circulation and warm the spine, and dynamic standing poses to build internal heat.

⚖️ Balance and Proprioception

Cold exposure can impair balance because stiff muscles lead to unsteady ankles and knees. This connects directly to yoga’s emphasis on balancing poses, which challenge stability by removing support, reinforcing coordination and core strength.

Balance poses enhance proprioception—our body’s ability to sense its position in space. This capacity becomes compromised in cold conditions, making falls more likely. For winter practice: prepare properly for balance poses with axial extension postures, strengthen ankles through preparatory work, engage core stabilizers to compensate for reduced peripheral feedback, and consider using the wall or other support when practicing in cold environments.

💧 The Hidden Risk: Dehydration

A counterintuitive insight: you don’t typically get as thirsty in cold temperatures, but you still sweat. That combination can increase your risk of becoming dehydrated.

This matters for yoga practitioners because spinal health depends partly on hydration. As we age, spinal discs experience dehydration and changes in composition, which can lead to pain and structural deterioration. Maintaining hydration and alignment of the spine is vital to minimizing stress on these discs. Drink fluids before, during, and after winter practice—even when you’re not thirsty.

🧘 Listening to the Body: The Ultimate Practice

This is svadhyaya (self-study) in action. Our teachings on sensation and pain emphasize that many individuals may lack experience in listening to their bodies and distinguishing between different physical sensations.

Winter practice offers an opportunity to deepen this skill. Healthy sensation typically presents as a moderate or dull ache located within the muscle rather than near joints. Sharp or shooting pains near joints signal immediate cessation of the activity. Breath serves as an indicator of internal state—if breathing becomes strained, back off.

Research shows that individuals with better interoceptive awareness—the ability to recognize internal bodily sensations—are more resilient to stress. Yoga, by promoting the mind-body connection, enhances this awareness. The cold becomes not an obstacle but a teacher, inviting us deeper into relationship with our own physiology.