Topic 6.02.01 Bathing: Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Topic 6.02.01 Bathing: Cleanliness is next to Godliness. VERSION CONTROL: 1 August 2017

Take a bath or shower both before and after your practice to refresh the body and mind. Many people think that they need to shower or bathe only after exercising. Asanas come easier after taking a bath.

While not a necessity, as a general rule, it is better to have a bath or shower before practice, where- ever possible. This will make you feel better, relax your body more, and you will not only be able to perform the postures better, but also therefore obtain more of the benefits from them. Bathing stimulates your circulation and influences your attitude towards achieving maximum benefits from your Yoga practices…perhaps this is because you have ‘washed away’the toxins, waste and negative vibrations that you could have been exposed to. Washing away toxicity is also a symbolic cleansing
-spiritual cleansing as well as physical cleansing.

If you perspire a great deal during practice, or if your work-out has been one where the body feels sticky because of perspiration, it is desirable to also bathe some fifteen to twenty minutes after ending your session.

If you are a teacher of Yoga, bathe and wash your clothes, straight after (wherever practical and possible) giving a Yoga class. – You collect vibes.