Too much rain water can overload the city’s storm water system.
The manhole covers are rising up above the street on fountains of water. People are rushing out of the subway stations as the water is rising around them. The streets are underwater.
The city has been hit by a very severe thunderstorm. There is a torrential downpour. The storm sewer system can no longer handle the volume.
Alice watches the story unfold on the TV. Her yoga teacher had warned the yoga class last week about the danger of drinking too much water before class. Her yoga teachers said that if you drank too much water you would feel like a flood was going to happen.
Alice’s yoga teachers talked about several things regarding water.
- Drinking too much water
- Not drinking enough water
- Drinking just the right amount of water.
First of all her teacher talked about too much water intake
1. Drinking too much water
Drinking a litre of water just before class can be disastrous. You will have a belly full of water which will make you feel heavy and bloated. The water is still in your stomach and your body has not had enough time to absorb it and distribute it to the areas that need it.
A belly full of water can have a very bad influence during your yoga practice. There are three major problem areas:
- Standing forward folds
- Seated folds and twists
- Full bladder
Standing forward folds have the most problems.
Standing forward folds
Drinking too much water can cause you problems with standing and seated forward folds, twists and a full bladder.
There are many poses where you have your head a long way below your hips. This means that that belly full of water has an easy outlet. Water likes to flow downhill and seek the lowest level possible. All of a sudden you could be struggling to keep all that water in your belly rather than letting it flow out of your mouth onto the floor.
This is not a comfortable feeling and will distract you from your yoga pose and if the water comes out you will be distracting a lot of people in the yoga class as well.
Standing forward folds are bad news when you have a belly full of water. There is more bad news coming when you attempt some seated postures.
Seated folds and twists
Even the seated poses can be a problem. Here your head is well above your stomach and there is no danger of the water flowing out of your mouth, but there is another problem. The forward folds and twists will be compressing your abdominal area. Your belly full of water is going to get in the way. You are going to feel bloated and uncomfortable.
You will be unable to go as far as you normally do. In fact if you try and go to your usual limit in a pose you may discover that the water in your stomach is seeking an exit just like it did during the standing forward folds.
All of this twisting and folding is not only compressing your belly full of water it is having an impact on your bladder as well.
Full bladder
As the class progresses your body will be processing that belly full of water and it will be moving throughout your body and eventually it will make its way to your bladder. Now you have more problems to worry about instead of focusing on your yoga pose. You have to be careful about your still full stomach and now you have a full bladder as well.
All of this folding and twisting will be compressing your bladder as well and you are going to have to pee. The best thing to do in this case is to leave the class and take care of this problem before some leakage happens. At least once you return to class you will have one less thing to distract you.
You would think that with all of these problems if you drink too much water before class that you would be better off to avoid water all together. But avoiding water before class brings its own set of problems.
2. Not drinking enough water
Water is important to the body. You need enough water in the body to carry nutrients around. If you are not drinking enough water you will find that your energy levels will drop and you will feel lethargic during class.
You will find that the yoga poses are very challenging and your mouth will be as dry as dust.
While you will not have the same problems as when you drink too much water not drinking enough water is a problem as well.
There is a middle ground that will finally bring some good news to this story.
3. Drinking just enough water
Alice’s yoga teachers said that you need to drink just enough water before yoga class.
You need to keep the body hydrated by drinking water throughout the day. Whenever your mouth feels dry during the day it is time to drink some more water. Drinking small quantities of water during the day is much better than drinking a large amount all at once, especially just before the start of your yoga class.
Drinking water throughout the day will help to keep your energy levels up as well. You will feel energized and ready to move on to the next task.
But my mouth gets dry during class
If during your yoga class your mouth becomes dried out or parched there are two things you can do.
First, take a small sip of water to moisten your mouth. This is not a big gulp, just enough to wet your tongue and cheeks.
Next, during your yoga practice remember to keep your mouth shut and your lips touching and breathe through your nose. This change in breathing will help to prevent your mouth from drying out.
If your body is properly hydrated before yoga class and you breathe through your nose then your mouth should not dry out. If it does dry out any way then review your water intake during the day. Perhaps you should be drinking more water during the day.
Summary
Your body needs water in order to work properly. However like Alice saw on the TV there can be too much water in the system and this can cause some major problems.
A steady intake of water during the day is much better than drinking a large amount of water all at once.
Keeping your body properly hydrated during the day and coming to class with a water-free belly will lead to a very satisfying and energetic yoga class.
Next Step
Avoid drinking water just before yoga class.
Additional Reading
— For more about drinking water and yoga classes you can read Why you should treat your yoga practice like an African Violet
— You also need to watch what you eat before class. To find out more read Why eating a big meal before your yoga class is not the best plan
— And finally you can read this article about Why you should avoid hunger when you do yoga
