Yoga for athletes

Look for another food log posting on Friday, I want to encapsulate a "normal" day of training and of working, so that day is coming yet!

I wanted to take the opportunity to tell you about a really neat event coming up in October. As you know for the past 5 years I have been teaching yoga at Breathe in Pittsford NY. I have been practicing yoga for about 10 years. My foundations began in Ashtanga, I studied with Baron Baptiste and most recently Sean Corn. I don't have the "I have studied with" resume that many yoga teachers have, but a long time ago I learned that the secret to learning, the secret to yoga are the lessons you learn right on your own mat.

I began practicing yoga because I had lost flexibility. I stayed on my mat for an entirely different reason. What drew me to the Baptiste style of yoga (which is highly influenced by Ashtanga) was the athletic nature of it, the 90 degree heat and the sweat. There is a lot of sweat.

For years I have begged athletes to step into the studio. Any studio, all yoga is good yoga, I don't' care how "good" or "Bad" the teacher is. I have never taken a class that I didn't get something out of. If you are blaming the teacher then you need to look at yourself.

Bridging the cap between yoga and athletes has been extremely difficult for me, and a gap that I understand. When someone is training for triathlon, lacrosse, hockey XX hours per week the last thing they ca afford to do with their time is spend another 75 minutes in a yoga studio, plus the drive to and from. I get that.

The Baptiste style of yoga, power yoga if you want to call it that.... attracts the type A personality. It's vigorous, it's intense, it's full of tension..... and by tension I don't mean good or bad.... just the tension that type A people seem to thrive on. That includes me.

So I decided to do something about it, and this is where it gets very cool for me. I have developed a 25 minute power yoga sequence based on the Baptiste Power Yoga Flow.... designed for the athlete, by an athlete (me!) do do at home. In your own space, after your workout.

What will a yoga practice do for you? We all know that in terms of endurance sports strength training likely will slow you down. That's why we get in and out of that weight room asap. With that being said we know that strength can help protect the muscles.

What are the biggest areas of injury??? Not so much the big muscles...... the big muscles are in good condition. IT bands, ankles, Achilles tendons, the smaller muscles, tendons and more specifically the connective tissue that binds these all together.... are the hot spots of our bodies.

Yoga..... helps to condition and strengthen those smaller muscles. Especially the connective tissue. Connective tissue is what binds it all together and it is every difficult to strengthen, and it is difficult to heal. Sean Corn recently described CT as taffy..... you can not just pull and stretch it. You have to apply heat, like pressing your thumb into taffy. Once the taffy is heated now it can bend, stretch and strengthen.

That's a very good and simplistic description of what yoga does for connective tissue. Because when it all comes down to it we as athletes are only as strong as our weakest link.

So at Breathe we developed "Yoga for athletes". It's a 3 week series where you will learn this 25 minute sequence. I will break down yoga for you, I will review alignment of every single pose in this sequence, we will demystify and take out the elite-yoga-intimidation that exists (FYI: that elite squad exists in every single place in the world: yoga, bowling and even triathlon..... get over it...... these things are for everyone).

Secondly, within this workshop series you will learn about nutrition. Not the Core Diet, that's Jesse's. I am partnering with Lauri Boone, one of Breathe's new registered dietitians and sports nutritionists, (she's worked with professional teams in the NHL and many elite athletes). Lauri will teach you the basics of fueling your body on and off the field, during competition and at rest. Learn which supplements are bogus and which ones you really need.

Our goal during this 3 week series is to get your into the door of yoga, learn that's it's not all chanting and incense. It's for everyone, every body, every soul. You will likely come for the physical practice. Somewhere in there you will be very surprised to find a heightened level of focus, of presence, and that will be the suprise factor that will come through in your performance. Trust me on that one.

Here are the details:

Yoga for Athletes.

Tuesday October 6, 13 and 20th.

7:30-8:45pm, half yoga half nutrition.

$45 for the whole series (and some free goodies in there for you as well).

Please register ASAP, we do have limited spaces and we expect these to fill! Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions!!!! Call 585.248.9070 and check out http://www.breathe-yoga.com/!