The following article sheds some light on the importance of proper hydration before, during, and after class. You may also want to check out the "elete" electrolyte mineral supplement tablets or liquid drops to add to your drinking water sold at our studio.
by Lucas Rockwood of YOGABODY Naturals.
Yoga students
often become obsessed with hydration to the point where they’re never
without a water bottle. It just becomes part of you. Your wallet, your
keys, your ID, and a bottle of water. It’s really that important.
And yet as a teacher, I’m constantly getting questions about how to
avoid dehydration. Despite the awareness, many students still find
themselves with constipation, headaches, and dark circles around their
eyes simply because they’re dehydrated.
Depending on the
temperature of the room and the style of yoga you’re practicing, it’s
possible to lose an enormous amount of water during a 90-minute
practice. Hot Yoga students need to be most concerned; but on warm
days, just about any Ashtanga-Vinyasa or Power Yoga class quickly
turns into a sweat-fest too, so the question that arises is: “How do
you properly rehydrate?”
STEP 1:
Make sure you are hydrated BEFORE class. This doesn’t mean that you
should drink two liters of water just before practice, but it does mean
making sure that throughout your day, you maintain a healthy intake
of water (and no, coffee doesn’t count).
STEP 2:
During class, follow your teacher’s instructions. If it’s a class
where water is accepted (like Bikram Yoga, for example), then you’ll
absolutely want to bring water. If it’s a class where water is optional,
be your own judge. And lastly, if it’s a class where water is not
permitted, just make sure that you feel that it’s a healthy practice
for you and talk one-on-one with your teacher if you have any doubts.
STEP 3:
Drink water and only water. For hydration, you’ll want to reduce or
eliminate all the caffeinated and flavored beverages from your diet
including coffee, dark teas, and sodas. Non-caffeinated, herbal teas
are fine, but for the most part, you want to drink just plain old
water.
But what kind of water? Dozens of athletic studies
have shown that it’s not just about quantity, it’s also about quality
when it comes to water. What you’re looking for are electrolytes,
positively and negatively charged ions from minerals that keep your
body’s electrical system working properly.
In a natural
state, we’d drink our water from streams, wells, and rivers. This water
is high in minerals, including the important electrolytes sodium,
potassium, calcium, magnesium, and chloride. But since most of our
water today has been treated, heavily filtered, and bottled, it’s
often referred to as “dead” water because it’s mineral-deficient.
RE-MINERALIZE YOUR BODY & YOUR WATER
Natural mineral
water is very hard to come by, and not practical for most people
(unless you live near mineral springs); so the best idea for most
students is to proactively re-mineralize their body and their water on
an on-going basis.
There are a number of ways to boost your mineral intake, but the
easiest are (a) to start eating as many dark green, mineral-dense
veggies as possible, and (b) to consider adding a pinch of sea salt or
seaweed (such as dulse) to your water bottles throughout the day.
Unbleached,
chunky sea salt is a great source for electrolytes and can easily be
added to your water. It’s high in sodium, of course, so do add just a
pinch and be cautious if you have blood pressure problems.
Dulse is a mineral-dense sea vegetable that is a great source for
natural electrolytes as well. Adding a leaf of dulse to a water bottle
is another simple way to increase the “sticking” power of your water.
If you’ve ever
had the feeling that no matter how much water you drink, you still feel
completely parched; chances are good that you were suffering from
electrolyte deficiency. The good news is that with a little planning
and consciousness effort, you can dramatically increase your body’s
ability to absorb and retain water.
My dad started private yoga
sessions with me last fall. He was having some lower back and hip
issues that I was confident yoga could help—they did and he’s now
officially a yoga junkie.
