Hair Damage

Hi Micherie

Just a thought: Since you started your yoga what changes have you made to your shampooing regime. For example I know a lot of people wash their hair more often – even every time they practice (instead of just rinsing or even just putting in conditioner). How often did you wash it before and how often do you wash it now?

Heaters at home have a reputation for drying out the environment and hence why humidification is the answer. The studio environment on the other hand is usually far from dry.

Wondering what you think! One, the other or a combination perhaps?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Another thought, Micherie, do you wear your hair up in hairbands during practice? This can sometimes cause damage to the hair (breakage) if used frequently.

Hi Micherie,

How “wavy” is your hair?

I have naturally curly hair that I dye every few months because I like to change my look and am too lazy/clumsy to spend all that time with a straightening iron :cheese:
I’ve cut my hair off lots of times when it gets dry/frizzy beyond repair, most recently last summer. I used natural/organic products whenever possible and limited washings, but it just didn’t seem to do the trick.

Anyway, when I started yoga, I was Googling around looking for How NOT to kill my hair with all these new washings, and I came across something called the “Curly Girl Method.”

If you Google those words, you’ll find a ton of stuff – basically, you stop using shampoo forever and use conditioner instead. I’ve been following the method for almost 3 months now; and after the initial ick-phase, my hair looks and feels ALOT better than it ever did and I swear I will never shampoo again 😉

Good Luck!

Hi Micherie

I used to wash my hair a lot. But now I wash it every 5 days. It’s not so easy to change the habit. It means living a week or so with really greasy hair while your scalp works out the new timetable. 😉

It seems to me that you may really just be washing it too often. We have a house guest at the moment and she thought she needed to wash daily. She has long black hair but it was getting dry and she had terrible dandruff. I suggested she change shampoo plus wash less often and within a week her dandruff was almost gone and within 2 weeks her hair is in amazing condition. Now she washes only every 4-5 days.

Nynn’s idea is also a great one. If you can’t give up shampoo then at least condition the other times.

Go on, give it a go!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Have you considered oiling your hair? Just a smidge of oil (I use organic coconut oil, but you can use Olive Oil, etc) rubbed into the ends and down the length … the heat helps it ‘soak in’, and the result is beautifully conditioned hair. Many more tips at Long Hair Community.com.

I have also been trying to wash my hair less frequently, about every 5-6 days.
Gabrielle, I was wondering…when you are mentioning that you are washing your hair every 5 days, do you still rinse it with water after yoga practice? Or do you not wash/rinse it at all during these 5 days?

I would like to try that, but am a bit worried about all the sweat accumulating in my hair. Sounds really a bit unappealing. On the other hand, the idea of washing my hair without shampoo didn’t appeal to me neither and it appeared to be a great decision!

Hi

Well, I do wear my hair up and with one of those expandable (cotton) hair bands that cover the top of my head from my hair line back to my crown. Because of that my hair doesn’t seem to get that wet. It gets filled with sweat when strands of my hair fall around my face and forehead when I don’t wear one of those bands.

So generally I will rinse my hair if it is sweaty. I’m not going to go between classes with icky hair! 😉 If I rinse with water only I sometimes put a tiny bit of conditioner in (only a couple of drops) after I have towel dried. Or I apply conditioner in the regular way and rinse it out. I never seem to have to rinse every class, probably every 2. Clear as mud?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

I haven’t had that issue, but after I started going to hot yoga more often, I got a curly girl haircut and quit using shampoo altogether. I use the DevaCare No-Poo (which is more like conditioner) after class and that works out great. My hair feels healthier than ever after a few months.