Feeling Heavy, Tired & Foggy This Spring? Kapha Season Explained | Ayurveda & Ashtanga Yoga in Groningen

A guide to the Ayurvedic spring transition - and how yoga practice in Groningen can help you move through it

I've been noticing a few patterns showing up over the last few weeks whether in the shala, in conversations with friends and in some of the messages I receive from you. A lot of people are feeling heavy and tired.

A stuffy nose or congested ear that won't quite leave. A sluggish digestion. A foggy head, or aches in the joints and muscles that linger a little longer than usual. If any of this sounds familiar - you're not imagining it, and you're not alone.

This may be connected to Kapha season.

What is Kapha season?

In Ayurveda, the year is divided into seasons that each have distinct qualities. Kapha season spans late winter into mid-spring — exactly where we are now. Winter builds up Kapha in the body (think earth + water: cold, heavy, slow, dense, moist — a bit like mud). As temperatures begin to rise, that accumulated Kapha starts to melt and move. This is actually a healthy process. The body is trying to clear itself and make room for new energy.

But if the channels are a little blocked, or we haven't been giving the body what it needs, things can get stuck. And that stickieness tends to show up as:

• Fatigue and heaviness, especially in the morning

• Congestion, a runny nose or a cough that keeps returning

• Brain fog or emotional flatness

• Swollen or stiff joints and muscles

• Low motivation - a general feeling of "meh"

  
  

Welcome to April in the Netherlands.

A few things that genuinely help right now

Nothing dramatic - just small, consistent acts of support for what your body is already trying to do:

• Warm, lightly spiced food. Think cooked meals with ginger, turmeric and black pepper. Soups, dals, roasted vegetables. Favour lighter grains like millet or barley over heavy, cold or dairy-rich foods. And look in your garden - dandelion leaves are one of the first plants to emerge each spring and have a beautifully purifying effect. Add them to soups or salads. Everything in balance, of course.

• Ginger tea or CCF tea. Cumin, coriander and fennel - simmered together - kindle the digestive fire and help move things along. A simple and deeply supportive habit this time of year.

• Move your body, especially before 10am. Kapha peaks between 6 and 10 in the morning. That heavy, don't-want-to-get-up feeling? That is peak Kapha time. Moving the body - even briefly - is one of the best antidotes.

• Dry brushing. A few minutes of dry brushing before your shower stimulates circulation and supports the lymphatic system. It helps move things outward - which is exactly what this season asks for.

Your Ashtanga Yoga Practice is One of the Most Powerful Tools You Have Right Now

Ashtanga Yoga can build warmth, can get the blood and lymph moving, clears the channels and wakes prana back up in the body. Even a short practice of 20 minutes can genuinely change how you feel for the rest of the day. It doesn't need to be long or look a specific way. It is about what it gives you.

If you've been finding it harder to show up for practice lately (or for other things in your life) - this might be Kapha talking. The practice can be the medicine.

About our Ashtanga Yoga Program in Groningen

In our program you learn to build up your own personal yoga practice, one that supports your life, - step by step, with a lot of 1-on-1 guidance from experienced teachers and in a supportive, warm space. We are open six days a week and you practise at your own pace and capacity.

Whether you are just starting out and curious about what Ashtanga Yoga is, or coming back to the mat after a longer break - there is room for you here. The structure of the practice gives you something to return to, again and again, through every season.

Read more about our Ashtanga Yoga Program here.

Want more personalised guidance?

Sometimes a seasonal shift brings up things that are specific to you - your constitution, your history, what has been going on in your life. General advice can only go so far.

If you'd like to look at your own picture more closely, I offer Ayurveda consultations where we go into your individual situation and put together a practical, personalised approach to help you feel better. You are welcome to reach out by email or find the booking link in bio.

The body is always trying to find its way back to balance. Sometimes it just needs a little support to get there.

Drink something warm, move, listen to the birds, and get on your mat when you can.

It counts.

With warmth, Maxi