I can’t help but know it’s summer already. And it has just began. All the telltale signs are there.

 

I step fresh out of the shower — am sweating already — and I haven’t even put on my clothes yet!

I’m a coffee drinker but these days, I can’t get myself to drink anything piping hot! Cappuccino has been replaced by Frapuccino.

Am beginning to dislike having to put on my corporate look (long-sleeved blazer and lined skirt) and prefer to wear the sleeveless look.

Throat feels perenially parched.

The office water dispenser is the most frequent pitstop nowadays.

Shades are a MUST accessory in my handbag.

Fewer people are dining al fresco. Suddenly, the airconditioned spots of a resto are filled up so fast that you probably need to specify when you make reservations, “Airconditioned area PLEASE!“

Everyone’s shopping cart has at least a half dozen bottles of water. I find myself buying BOXES of water — plain AND flavored.

Our dog, who used to run and greet us, now dozes unmindful of us in the coolest part of the patio.

All yoga classes now seem to be like Bikram (hot yoga).

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This is the time of year when this yogini, who was confined twice in a row last year due to terrible, second-only-to-giving-birth pains from kidney stones (and lived to blog about it), has to remind herself to —

HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE!

 

Here are some FAQs you need to know:

* Dehydration is the loss of water and salts from the body. We need water to maintain enough blood and other fluids to function properly, and to maintain our blood pressure. Along with the fluids, the body also needs electrolytes, which are salts normally found in blood, other fluids, and cells.

* You can lose water in various ways (urinating, vomiting or having diarrhea, sweating, and even from just breathing!)

* Some early signs of dehydration are a dry mouth, thirst, and less energy. More advanced signs include fatigue, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, headache, rapid shallow breathing, high temperatures, rapid heart beat, and decreased alertness or complete loss of consciousness.

* Drink H2O even before you feel thirsty. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated. In summer, you lose a lot of body fluids — FAST!!

* Coffee, tea, sodas or alcohol-containing beverages do not hydrate. In fact, they can be dehydrating agents. Water is better. For sports-minded people, flavored or active water is a good way to get more fluids into one’s system. Watch out though for the sugar and sodium content!

* Six to eight 8-oz glasses of water a day would be a great way to start. (I have a 2L water bottle on my office table. I fill it to the brim every day and try to consume it by end of day. It is an easy benchmark for me and ensures I get enough fluids into my body.)

* For us yogis and yoginis, preparing for a yoga class also means coming well hydrated. That means drinking lots of water hours before class. Drinking it too close to class might mean you will feel nature’s call in the middle of classes (a very discomforting feeling indeed!). But more importantly, hydrating AFTER a yoga class is very important to bring balance of liquids lost during class back into one’s system.

Don’t forget to hydrate yourself.

Here’s wishing we all have a wonderful, well-hydrated summer! Namaste….