THE POWER OF YOGA FOR RECOVERYby JulieAnne White Sri Aurobindo, a well-known Indian teacher, believed that yoga develops your ability to achieve and maintain inner peace. The ability to establish inner peace allows you to reach the optimum level in all your physical and mental endeavors. Creating inner calmness or an inner state of tranquility is referred to as the "skill" in the Bhagavad Gita, the Indian philosophical epic. Sri Aurobindo believed that for people to attain excellence on the physical, vital, mental, intellectual and spiritual levels, they needed to attain mastery over the mind. Yoga still tends to conjure up images of crystal balls and mindless chanting and to elicit rolling of the eyes from those ignorant of the powerful benefits of this ancient skill. Yoga is the perfect choice for any athlete, but especially those engaging in endurance events. Runners and triathletes require an especially powerful mind that can reach a state of complete, peaceful control should difficult situations arise during a competitive event. Athletes can choose from a wide range of modalities that enhance training and, more importantly, assist recovery. Choices vary from chiropractic adjustments and therapeutic massage to acupuncture, deep water running and yoga. As an athlete I have used all of these, and as a coach I advise my athletes to incorporate as many as possible into their recovery mode. As a rehabilitative and physical therapist, I know they can all work well to enhance recovery. Yoga has reached a whole new degree of popularity
with athletes at all levels. Runners are prone to overuse injuries, often as a result of poor mechanics or technique. Having said that, it remains true that some of the best runners in the world have unsightly technique, but nevertheless get the job done in true champion fashion. When runners or triathletes become injured while running, they often turn to cross training for recovery purposes. Although very beneficial for overall conditioning, cross training will not correct imbalances or misalignment issues. Cross training will give injured connective or muscle tissue a period of time to heal. But once the athlete is healed and returns to running, the imbalance is once again aggravated. The old injury is apt to recur again and again as tight muscles need stretching. A stiff, inflexible body becomes prone to all sorts of muscular imbalances and structural misalignment issues that can eventually cause injury. Increased flexibility and mind-body relaxation are important components of Hatha yoga. The mental skills acquired through the stillness required for yoga poses and stretches can be applied to a demanding training session or difficult competitive day. Mind-body relaxation teaches yoga students to focus on breathing. As participants are able to control their pattern of breathing, they learn how to release the deep stressors within their muscular systems and reach a greater level of peaceful tranquility. I started practicing Hatha yoga in 1995, and I have found a whole new level of concentration, strength, power and flexibility from it. I have fine-tuned a program that I can perform daily to comply with my training program and my own personal requirements. I suggest that athletes try attending a class offered by a qualified yoga instructor to begin the practice of Hatha yoga. A qualified yoga instructor can gently ease individual athletes into personalized programs that suit their needs. Some may feel incredibly tight during the first few sessions but this should be encouraging, as the body can only grow physically and mentally from this point forward. When new yoga students feel comfortable with the various poses and achieve a level of competence at the beginning level, they may wish to practice on their own daily. A number of qualified instructors have produced training videos-Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden are among the best. These videos are aimed at a variety of skill levels-from complete beginners to more advanced practitioners-and incorporate concepts of strength, energy, meditation and increased flexibility. Many of the athletes I train have incorporated Hatha yoga into their training programs to enhance their levels of flexibility, relaxation and meditation. In each case, the athlete has experienced new growth in training and competitive success. Many are male triathletes who at the first mention of yoga, said, "No way," but then, "OK, I guess it can't hurt." Now these same athletes attend classes regularly in addition to practicing at home, and they can't stop raving about the results they have attained both physically and mentally. If you want to reap the benefits of increased performance, enhanced body awareness and health, then I suggest you find a Hatha yoga class you can attend weekly. Believe me, you will become a more responsive person, both physically and mentally.
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