Athletes And Yoga

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Lebron James And Other Famous Athletes Turn To Yoga

Whether it’s on the field, on the court, or during training, athletes put their bodies through a grueling amount of strain. One look at the Green Bay Packers’ injury report and it’s clear that this list of abdomen, knee, shoulder, neck, and ankle injuries (among others) are not going to shrink anytime soon unless these guys start doing something different.

As it turns out, that something different might be yoga.
Yoga in the NFL

Tramon Williams, cornerback for the Packers, started earlier last year when Terrell Owens told him that yoga was the “football fountain of youth.” Williams credits yoga as the reason he performed so well in the second half of 2013, and says it allowed him to become even more flexible than he was before.

Instructor Ryanne Cunningham of Green Bay has been working with Packers team members for years, and her clientele is growing. As she tells the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, some players who had pulled their hamstrings were “dying” doing simple stretching poses—yet eight months later, they could reach all the way to the ground.

Yoga In The NBA

On the basketball side of things, Miami Heat forward LeBron James had to leave the last quarter of Game 1 of the NBA finals this year due to leg cramps. However, James took precautions for the next game: he took a yoga class. Sports Illustrated notes that James has been doing yoga for years, describing it as a mind-body technique that keeps him ahead of the curve.

The San Antonio Spurs, who won this year’s playoffs, have been participating in team yoga sessions for years. Coach Gregg Popovich told reporters that he wanted his team to focus on “flexibility, relaxation, [and] lowering of anxiety.”

So could the Spurs’ victory have been spurred by yoga? Anything’s possible—and even when teams don’t win, at least players might get injured less often by stretching their way to better health!

Sarah Alender

Sarah is part of DoYouYoga’s editorial team and writes about inspiration and news.

Tips

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Yoga For Everyone

Need to relax and stretch? No matter what your age or fitness level, yoga is for you. Please join Yoga Mike and re-learn how to breathe and relax. Bring a yoga mat if you have one. We will be barefoot.

Saturday, October 31, 2015
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Reynolds Corners Branch – Large Meeting Room

Please come join us, it will be fun!

Tips

Pose for the week

plowpose

Plow Pose

(hah-LAHS-anna)
hala = plow
Plow Pose: Step-by-Step Instructions

From Salamba Sarvangasana, exhale and bend from the hip joints to slowly lower your toes to the floor above and beyond your head. As much as possible, keep your torso perpendicular to the floor and your legs fully extended.

With your toes on the floor, lift your top thighs and tailbone toward the ceiling and draw your inner groins deep into the pelvis. Imagine that your torso is hanging from the height of your groins. Continue to draw your chin away from your sternum and soften your throat.

You can continue to press your hands against the back torso, pushing the back up toward the ceiling as you press the backs of the upper arms down, onto your support. Or you can release your hands away from your back and stretch the arms out behind you on the floor, opposite the legs. Clasp the hands and press the arms actively down on the support as you lift the thighs toward the ceiling.

Halasana is usually performed after Sarvangasana for anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes. To exit the pose bring your hands onto your back again, lift back into Sarvangasana with an exhalation, then roll down onto your back, or simply roll out of the pose on an exhalation.

Pose for the week

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Yoga For Everyone

Need to relax and stretch? No matter what your age or fitness level, yoga is for you. Please join Yoga Mike and re-learn how to breathe and relax. Bring a yoga mat if you have one. We will be barefoot.

Saturday, October 24, 2015
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
Reynolds Corners Branch – Large Meeting Room

Please come join us, it will be fun!

Tips