Month: July 2016
Yoga Boosts Endurance and Sports Performance
Tune into the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio and you’ll see a myriad of strong, healthy bodies. No surprise there, but what you may be surprised to learn is that some of those ultra-fit athletes you see running, diving, cycling also practice yoga.
Many people imagine that yoga classes are just for [women, thin people, fit people, fill in the blank here], but the truth is that yoga classes are for anyone who wants to breathe, stretch, and spend time with their body on the mat.
Athletes need this too. Yoga can help athletes improve their performance by targeting particular muscle groups.
For example, Stephen Curry will be on the Olympic basketball team in Rio, and he has used yoga to improve his game and become successful.
[Photo credit: Keith Allison] Curry experienced multiple ankle sprains and surgery to repair his ligaments before turning to yoga. His trainer discovered that he was working his ankles much more than necessary, so he developed a routine for Curry that would shift his energy up to his core and hips.
The pose that helped the most? Airplane. He used this pose and others to strengthen his core, hips, and glutes, thus reducing his reliance on his ankles. And the added bonus of a regular yoga practice is an increased awareness of his body in space. So when you are watching Curry on the basketball court in Rio, pay attention to his amazing moves, all thanks to yoga.
Yoga as a Superior Form of Weight-Bearing Exercise
Yoga is a superior form of weight-bearing exercise that can help prevent osteoporosis and improve posture in both men and women. Weight-bearing exercise is any exercise in which your body is working against gravity, and yoga certainly meets that description!
But yoga offers so much more than physical movement.
The ancient Indian philosophy of yoga offers us a holistic approach to bone health having nothing to do with clinical trials or changing scientific opinions. This approach has everything to do with alignment, balance, harmony, and a life lived in accordance to natural laws.
According to Dr. Susan E. Brown with the Better Bones Foundation, our bone health depends on our understanding of the interconnectedness of our bodies within nature. Dr. Brown has been researching bone health for over 20 years.
Everything we do for bone health should be good for the entire body. Given that the body is one single interwoven, intelligent system, every action we take to strengthen our bones should also be good for our entire body and as such will increase our overall health and enjoyment of life. This is the Better Bones, Better Body philosophy.
~ Dr. Susan E. Brown
Jo recommends Linda Sparrowe’s book, Yoga for Healthy Bones: A Woman’s Guide. She says, “This book is 145 easy-to-read pages. Sparrowe packs this resource with lots of sequences and tried and true information. I get a laugh out of the subtitle. In my opinion, this is the perfect resource for anyone who has a body!”
Explore Nostril Dominance
According to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, life radiates within us in streams of energy called nadis. The special branch of yoga that studies the upsurge (udaya) of flowing energy (svara) within these nadis is called svarodaya, or svara yoga. Through the practices of svara yoga, you can learn to be aware of the presence of these streams of energy, to discern how they shift and flow, and to observe their relationship with inner and outer life.
~ from “Self-Study: Nostril Dominance” by Rolf Sovik and Dick Ravizza
Click here for Self-Study link.
Jo Walker Yoga 