How to Practice Yoga During Kapha Season
An Ayurvedic Approach to Awakening Warmth, Lightness, and Flow
During Kapha season, it’s very common to feel less motivated to roll out your yoga mat—even when you know practice would help. Heaviness, sluggishness, or that familiar “I’ll do it tomorrow” feeling can quietly settle in. If this resonates, take heart: it’s not a lack of discipline. It’s simply the natural qualities of the season expressing themselves through your body.
Ayurveda teaches that Kapha is heavy, slow, cool, and stable by nature. When these qualities accumulate in late winter and early spring, balance comes from inviting in their opposites—warmth, lightness, and movement. Yoga during Kapha season isn’t about forcing intensity or pushing harder; it’s about choosing practices that gently wake up your energy and help circulation flow again.
Simple Ways to Support Your Yoga Practice During Kapha Season
Practice earlier in the day if possible, especially between 6–10am, when Kapha energy is strongest
Emphasize standing poses and backbends to open the chest and build heat
Move more continuously, linking breath with movement to create momentum
Hold poses slightly longer than usual to cultivate strength and warmth
Include energizing breathwork, such as Kapalabhati Pranayama, to stimulate agni and support circulation
Above all, remember: consistency matters more than intensity. Even a short, steady practice can dramatically shift how you feel. When you work with Kapha instead of against it, yoga becomes a powerful tool for feeling lighter, clearer, and more energized. This seasonal, constitution-aware approach is exactly what we explore in my yoga classes.
Ayurvedic Support for Balancing Kapha (Late Winter–Spring)
Pranayama (Breathwork)
Practice Solar Pranayama and Kapalabhati (Skull Shining Breath) to awaken digestive fire and clear stagnation. During asana, cultivate a continuous Ujjayi breath, emphasizing the exhalation to guide energy upward (Udana Vayu)—from the belly through the chest, throat, and sinuses—promoting warmth, circulation, and vitality.
Yoga Asana
Upon waking, choose stimulating, heating poses that open the stomach and chest, where Kapha tends to accumulate. Focus on invigorating standing poses and backbends, holding postures for up to 20 breaths when appropriate. Flow at a slightly quicker pace (always with mindful awareness) to help lighten and warm the body.
Energetic Focus
Vayus: Samana, Vyana, Udana
Chakras:
Manipura (Fire)
Anahata (Air)
Vishuddha (Ether)
Sound & Gesture
Bija Mantras: Ram, Yam, Ham
Mudras:
Agni Mudra (Fire)
Vayu Mudra (Air)
Akasa Mudra (Ether)
Meditation
A daily walking meditation is especially supportive during Kapha season. Gentle, rhythmic movement helps clear mental and emotional heaviness while cultivating lightness, clarity, and renewed energy.
Self-Massage
Incorporate garshan (dry brushing or dry massage) to stimulate the skin and lymphatic system. This practice enhances circulation, reduces stagnation, and helps the body feel more awake and refreshed.
Warming Tea
Sip a warming tea made with fresh ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon to support digestion, circulation, and internal heat.
Kapha-Balancing Foods
Favor freshly cooked, whole foods that are light, warming, well-spiced, and easy to digest, ideally served warm or hot. Emphasize pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes to balance moisture and mucus, support digestion, and maintain healthy metabolism.
Kapha thrives on simplicity: smaller meals, minimal snacking, fewer sweets, abundant fruits and vegetables, legumes, minimal alcohol, and lighter fare overall. This gentle, nourishing approach helps the body release heaviness and return to its natural vitality.
Interested in learning more about your Ayurvedic constitution and everyday healing rituals that’s right for you?
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