Thanks to my friends at prAna and YogaVibes, you can enjoy this FREE 30-minute video with easy yoga poses targeting the back, chest, and shoulders. It’s perfect for swimmers—and it includes a swimming-specific breath exercise—but it is also appropriate for anyone. The poses are simple and held for a while, so you don’t need any experience to get rolling. Enjoy!
Watch: Yoga for Athletes—Twists
My latest class on YogaVibes has a host of twists in different relationships to gravity. Wring it out!
Active Yogi: When Discipline Becomes Overuse
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as I explain in my latest Active Yogi post.
As athletes and as yogis, we spend a lot of time building comfort with discomfort. This is the purpose of training: We stress the body so that it can grow stronger. Without the stress of this discomfort, we miss out on adaptation, and thus the opportunity for growth. Similarly, yoga asana teaches us to grow comfortable with discomfort, whether it’s burning quads in Chair Pose or the challenge of trying our first Handstand. Our adaptation to these stimuli makes us stronger and more flexible, and the tools for staying present we develop in uncomfortable situations help prepare us for all life’s challenges.
Scheduled: Summer Yoga Mala
Join me and my fantastic colleagues Michelle Johnson and Hollie Sue Mann next month for a yoga mala complete with recovery practices!
As the light of summer reaches its peak, Michelle Johnson, Hollie Sue Mann, and Sage Rountree will lead us in their version of a summer yoga mala on Saturday, June 22. This mala will include three rounds of 27 sun salutations with a different dedication for each round. Each teacher will lead us in 27 sun salutations and focus on a specific dedication.
Round 1—Personal transformation and self-realization: dedication to self
Round 2—Dedication to family and friends
Round 3—Focus to the world: dedication to all beings everywhere; recognizing our interconnectedness
The mala is a moving meditation, not a competition. We will approach our time together with grace, holding gratitude for the growth of spring and the abundant light of summer. We will start each round with a meditation and end each round with a break for asana, meditation, or savasana. At the end of all three rounds we will move into relaxing hip stretches and twists; a guided relaxation and meditation, and a long, sweet savasana.
$20 until 6/15, $25 after
Watch: Yoga for Postgame Recovery
My latest class on YogaVibes is an hourlong practice for postgame recovery. Join the Cornell women’s lacrosse team for this yoga session for athletes and everyone. You’ll warm up the spine, shoulders, and hips, then relax into deep stretches designed to help you stay present moment to moment while preparing you for your next workout or activity.
Scheduled: Yoga for Athletic Recovery
My colleague Jeff Brown, who teaches our popular restorative yoga classes at Durham Yoga Company, and I are joining to teach a fun summer series: Yoga for Athletic Recovery. We’ll meet Sundays, June 23–July 14, 12:30–1:45 p.m., at the Durham Yoga Company. (Maybe you’d like to come straight from your run, or stop by Rue Cler beforehand for brunch, or take this class right after Jennie’s fantastic flow class.)
Jump-start your recovery to take your game to the next level in this special offering for athletes of all sports and levels. We start with active stretches and balance poses led by Sage Rountree, author of The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga and The Athlete’s Guide to Recovery. You’ll learn simple, short routines to practice after workouts, bringing your body into better balance to prevent injury and sharpen your focus. Then we segue into restorative yoga led by massage therapist Jeff Brown. In these long holds of supported poses, you’ll tune in to your body, enhance your ability to recover from each hard workout, and achieve deep relaxation.
Feel free to come straight from your workout, but, for your comfort as we cool down, please change into dry clothes before class.
Four weeks, $50, or $15 per session
Active Yogi: Dealing with Soreness and Fatigue
Some events make you sore. Some training weeks make you fatigued. Some days do both. In my latest Active Yogi post, I consider the effect soreness and fatigue have on your yoga practice (and give a little postview of the FU40 event in Memphis).
A week ago, I visited my best friend, Francesca, in Memphis, where she was running 40 miles to celebrate her imminent fortieth birthday. Struck by one of those ideas that seem to pop into the mind fully formed during a long run, she planned her own do-it-yourself event in a park outside town and invited some friends to join her for a lap or two around the lake. Several of us did one, two, or three of the 10-mile laps, while Francesca gamely did all four and felt good enough to drive when we went out for pizza and beer that evening.
Interview: Living Healthe
I spoke with Chris from Living Healthe [sic] about my journey and my take on yoga for athletes. Read it here!
Scheduled: Running Summit
I’m excited to be presenting on athletic recovery and on yoga at the 2013 Running Summit in Morristown, NJ, August 17 and 18. This will be a fantastic event for runners and coaches alike, offering continuing education credits for USATF and USA Triathlon coaches and NSCA trainers. I’m especially looking forward to hanging out with my colleague Matt Fitzgerald, one of the best writers around in any discipline, and to hearing Joe Vigil speak, as I was scheduled opposite him at USA Triathlon’s Art and Science conference last year. I hope you’ll join me—we can share a meal!
Read more on the Running Summit page.
Watch: Yoga for Swimmers
There’s a new, short (half-hour) yoga for swimmers video I filmed up at YogaVibes. This practice focuses on the chest and back, with detours into the ankles and hamstrings and a swimming-specific breath exercise. It’s gentle and appropriate for just about anyone, regardless of experience. Please enjoy and share!