Yoga for Athletes
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As you may be aware the science of yoga has been established as a performance enhancing tool throughout sports today. Its long list of benefits include; injury prevention creating a greater range of motion and increased flexibility, increased strength, endurance, balance and a calm and focused mind. Yoga helps all athletes from runners and triathletes to cyclists and team sports players.
Why Yoga?
• Injury prevention – Every physical sport sustains a high level of injury.
• Main reasons – Repetitive stress on over/under developed areas of body (e.g. hamstrings and shoulder joints)
• In Yoga there are three (3) stabilizing junctions which help us keep the body safe and effective.
• These are : the shoulder girdle, the pelvic girdle and the foot/ankle. The alignment & actions in each posture are cultivated to protect these areas.These are the areas most affected in sports keeping athletes out of the game.
• Yoga detoxifies the organs and boosts immune system preventing disease, this means overall healthier athletes.
• Yoga aligns, strengthens and balances the musculoskeletal system, this means more physically balanced athletes with less injuries.
• Yoga purifies the nervous system creating a clear and precise mind, this means athletes are more focused and concentrated
The Yin (soft ) approach focuses on releasing and strengthening the Connective Tissue which encases the entire body. For most athletes the CT is tense and restricted, aiding injury. To stimulate the CT we hold floor postures that target the lower back, hips and hamstrings for extended periods. Here we also focus on meditative breathing to help release the tissue and harness the mind |
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