So I’ve been here in the US now for nearly three months and boy is it freeezingggg. I love romping around in the snow but I’m not loving how the colder weather affects my BG levels.

I’ve been trying to get my basal dose just right but it’s tricky. Some days I’m super insulin resistant and then yesterday I spent the whole day eating to just stay at 5 mmol (90 mg/dl).

The ups and downs of blood glucose management are not just taxing on mental/ emotional wellbeing. It directly affects the nervous system. In winter we contract more, do less and retreat into dry and hot environments. All of these things decrease our natural vitality and increase the elements of air and space in our system often causing restlessness, uncertainty, depression, and lethargy and even a physical sense of weakness.

That’s why winter is one of the best times to work on increasing the energy in your system. The best thing to feed your energy is something called Prana. Prana is defined as life force. You absorb prana through breathing, food, and your skin.

Usually, in a yoga practice, you’ll increase the prana through the physiological process of inhalation but you can also increase your ability to absorb prana by bringing awareness to the ribcage and the muscles in between the ribs, the intercostal muscles.  When you stretch these areas you’re working with the sympathetic/ fight or flight part of your nervous system.

Generally, we spend way too much time in this part because it’s constantly triggered when we are stressed. Many of the yoga practices focus on supporting us to spend more time in the relaxed part of our nervous system. ( I.e restorative yoga, yin yoga, passive postures, slow focused breathing) When it comes to the colder months, I like to make an exception and physically activate the energetic part to generate heat and increase my ability to absorb prana.

I jumped into the FB group this morning to share a short live practice that anyone can do to stretch the side muscles and increase energy and vitality. Why not join me and leave a comment to let me know how it made you feel.