Yoga for Sportspeople

Most people's image of yoga is a woman engaged in a ballet like pose, or someone looking like a human pretzel. If you look a little deeper and scratch the surface you will find the truth about yoga. That truth is that yoga can improve strength, both physical and mental, and flexibility. This makes it the perfect addition to a sports person's workout routine.

Yoga improves not only physical strength, but it also strengthens and focuses the mind. This new focus and clarity of mind can certainly give you an advantage over the competition. Meditation can help you learn to focus your mind and you can use these techniques during both your practices and your games.

The physical strength comes from holding poses. Ashtanga yoga is more physically intense than other forms of yoga and is a popular choice for people looking to increase strength. The poses, or asanas, are taught in progression. Many times an instructor will only teach a couple of poses at a time to avoid frustration. Once these poses are mastered a teacher will move on to more difficult and physically challenging asanas.

In ashtanga yoga the poses are not held for as long as with other yoga such as hatha. Many of the poses are quite acrobatic in nature and require building strength, flexibility, balance and focus. It is a good idea to take classes when you begin an ashtanga practice. The poses can be difficult to master and even the visual aid of a DVD may not be enough to do the asanas properly. Nothing can replace the guidance of a good yoga teacher; especially in the beginning.

Yoga can also be a gentle way to begin exercising after a sports related injury. In this case you would need to work closely with your doctor and yoga instructor. There are poses that will not aggravate injury. The meditation and breathing exercises that go hand in hand with yoga can also help alleviate pain and help you use less medication while you recover.

There are many reasons why yoga is good for sports people. It builds mental and physical strength. You can also improve your focus and discipline. Finally, yoga can help you recover from injury with less pain.