Sun Protection for an Outdoor Practice

I love to pretend that I am really tan. I proudly wear the color yellow like it looks good on me and have mistakenly spent a few too many days at the beach without wearing sunscreen.

At the end of the day, my Irish roots always remind me of the truth— I’m not even close to being tan. Time outside without sunscreen too often results in blisters, burns and a growing family of freckles.

As much as I love how my freckles multiply in the sunshine, I have health first.

With all of the opportunities to get outside and practice yoga in the park, on paddleboards and even at a campsite, I’ve put together a list of my suggestions for how to protect your skin during warm summer days. Unroll your mat and safely get your shine on outside!

• Apply sunscreen frequently.

• Wear an SPF shirt. (This will give your skin extra sun protection against the harmful UV rays.)

• Leave the black yoga pants inside. As much as well all love how perfectly black yoga pants fit and feel, darker colors will attract more sunlight when you practice outside. Wear light colors to help your body stay cool. On especially hot days, try running shorts instead of yoga pants.

• Grab sunglasses and a hat or bandana. It is really important to protect your eyes from the sun, and also, who wants a sunburn on their scalp?

• Use a light colored towel and/or mat. Just like wearing light colored clothes, this will help you stay cool and keep the sun from strongly beating down on you.

• Bring coconut water! Coconut water is a great way to rehydrate—an  important part of an any practice! The more you sweat, the more you need to drink!

• Find a friend to hold an umbrella over you as you flow through your practice. Just kidding! But try to find a shady patch of flat ground when you unroll your mat outside.

• Lastly, just listen to your body! Make sure not to push it in the hot, sweaty weather, and take breaks whenever you need!

About the Blogger: Ellie Cole

Ellie loves yoga.

No matter how harried she feels outside of the studio, every time she enters and is warmly greeted by her teachers and her surrounding community, life feels good. She took her first CorePower Yoga class at the suggestion of one of her closest friends, and she hasn’t looked back since. The combination of sweat, smiles, movement and challenge changed her.

Ellie moved from Maine to Colorado for college, lacrosse and the beautiful mountains, and she is thrilled to call Denver her home. She joined the CorePower Yoga Marketing Team in the spring of 2013 and also teaches for CorePower Yoga in the Denver region. She feels so lucky that her passions for writing, connecting with people and yoga have all collided in her dream job.