Can You Do Yoga Every Day Even When You’re Sick?

Since it’s flu-season and, this question comes up a lot. Let’s take a look.. Yoga heals and is good for our health, but what to do when you’re sick? Can you still do yoga when you’re sick, have a cold or the flu?

I believe that there’s a time to push yourself on your yoga mat in order to get stronger -never to the point of pain or past your range of motion-and there’s a time to rest. In a good yoga practice there’s a balance in energizing and strengthening yoga combined with gentle, restorative yoga.

There are yogis who practice yoga when they’re sick. 

I’ll admit, I used to do it. And I paid the price. Now I prefer not to. I feel that my body needs sleep and rest in order to heal. 

Take a break!

Recovering from a cold or flu goes faster when I take a break. Even though I’m a big fan of practicing yoga daily! This is what my daily yoga practice taught me: knowing my limits. I know when I need to push my lazy self! But I also know when it’s enough.

If you feel a little under the weather and your body is aching, and you really feel like doing a gentle stretch, then I suggest to do it while lying down in bed. Taking a gentle and slow stretch with your arms over head and then hug your knees towards your chest. But when you have a flu or fever, you should really just rest, drink a lot of water, tea or fresh juices to stay hydrated. Eat healthy soups and other healthy, easy to digest foods. 

Don’t tough it out with an invigorating yoga flow, it’s not worth it. Your body needs rest and I promise you will feel better sooner.

In this week’s class I’ll guide you through a nice Slow Yoga Flow for after you’ve been sick, to build up strength and flexibility.