Yoga. What’s the deal with yoga? It’s been increasingly popular of the last 5 or so years, and is on the cusp of going viral. The macho types tend to think it’s simply glorified stretching.
Thanks to Jim Campbell for letting me use some photos from his OmLight Photography facebook page. Amazing, artistic stuff!
Glorified stretching? Wrong. Try years of practice, a lot of strength, patience, and flexibility of mind and body.
Ok, these pictures are just to show you that yoga can be so much more than a forward bend… (and some of my favorite Boulder yoga instructor types I admire)
Others think it’s weird oming (or auming). I’m sure you’ve read the health benefits of going to yoga. Most people think, “Yoga will increase my flexibility.” True. That is one of the many benefits. It does improve strength, flexibility, balance, spine health, posture, and you could drop a few pounds. However, there are mental benefits as well like stress management, better breathing, body awareness, self (or non-self) awareness – life management. Ever notice that some of your more well-seasoned yogis have great skin? To some, yoga is their religion. The word religion often scares people away. They start thinking about cults or obsessive proselytizing. I like to think yoga is more than just a great physical activity, but it provides great philosophical ideas to ponder. Yoga IS an integral part of the Hindu religion. Yoga is different things to different people, but you could argue that skiing is your religion or harbors most of your own personal philosophies, so don’t freak about the word religion. But I digress…
This post is more about applied yoga to what I spend a lot of my time doing – riding a bike. The hardest part is that at first glance, they seem to be counterproductive. Getting lower into Utkatasana(chair pose) or deeper into your lunge in Virabhadrasana II (Warrior II) definitely causes quad fatigue for riding. Sometimes I feel guilty when I don’t get as low as I know I can go because I know I have to do a hard ride later, so I save my legs.
Let’s not forget to mention working over your hamstrings from being in all the poses where you are bent over with one leg in the air, like Ardha Chandrasana(Half Moon) or Virhabhadsrana III (Warrior III)... especially if you don’t practice regularly. Or you could go the other way. Riding makes your body very tight, especially in the hips and thighs. I notice that the less I ride, the easier it is for me to get into hip opening type yoga poses, and the more I ride, the harder it is. Half pigeon goes from a more restful pose to a mini-nightmare where my body trembles like someone crying.
Like anything, it’s all about balance. Sure, yoga can make you tired on your bike if you overdo it (and I admit that I can overdo it from time to time… ok, a lot of the time!), but it can really HELP your cycling, and I’m sure other sports as well.
The more obvious reasons are that it increases your strength, especially in the core and you are less prone to injury because you are using your body and stretching around in different planes with yoga. Some of the more subtle benefits show up in posture. A lot of the cues in yoga poses apply directly to your posture on the bike. What cues can you take with you on your ride today for more power?
- Extend through the crown of your head
- Have an “up-dog” quality to your chest – pull your heart open. It opens chest cavity to let more air in your lungs.
- Keep your shoulders away down and away from your ears. When we fatigue, we unconsciously shrug our shoulders on the bike. Plus, it easier to push through your core when you’re not shrugging.
- Rise up out of the lower back instead of collapsing into it. Once again, it’s better for you and you use the power of your core.
- Think about producing power as a whole body instead of just from your legs. I like to think of a wave of power going from my core through my hips and glutes, and down through my legs
- BREATHE. If you can manage, you can breathe in your nose to calm the body. Breathe deeply if you are breathing hard from effort. Breathe into the areas that hurt the worst.
Namaste, bitches!
