Yoga has a multitude of benefits for your mental and physical health. Whether it’s relieving stress, alleviating anxiety and depression, or improving heart and brain health, the benefits you reap once you’ve signed up for a yoga program are limitless. One of the few changes that you will notice when you start your yoga practice is the improvement in flexibility, strength and sleep.
Yoga is also beneficial for runners as it allows them to stretch properly by preventing them from injuring themselves. It improves blood circulation around your muscles and also acts on the range of motion of your joints. Yoga also strengthens your lower body, upper body, and core, which helps you run more efficiently.
“Yoga is a wonderful practice that can help runners stretch properly and fully. Pre- and post-run stretches help maintain flexibility, prevent injury, and allow the body to recover. Runners tend to use them. same muscle groups over and over, making the muscles tense, gnarled and exhausted, ”says Yoga Grandmaster Guru Akshar.
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“To combat this, yoga can help increase range of motion. When you practice yoga, it allows a combination of static and dynamic stretching, which improves the strength and integrity of muscles and joints. to problems like runners’ knees. Yoga helps improve bone density, bone strength and health, yoga helps encourage the growth of new bone cells. As a runner you can achieve greater stability because the whole body is strengthened by yoga, ”adds the yoga guru.
Here are 5 yoga poses every runner should practice:
Ashwa Sanchalanasana (equestrian pose)
* Start with your feet together
* Bring your right leg back and place it towards the back end of the mat
* Make sure your toes are touching the floor and your heel is pointing up
* Gently lower your right knee and place it on the floor
* After pressing your toes, extend them
* Your left knee should be aligned with your left ankle
* Maintain a 90 degree angle at the knee joint between the top and bottom of the leg
* Lower your pelvis and place the palms next to your foot
Ashtavakrasana (Pose dedicated to Ashtavakra sage)
* Start at Adhomukha Swanasana
* Jump and bring your left foot between your palms and your right foot outside your right palm
* Tuck your right elbow firmly under the inside of your right thigh
* Slowly lift your right foot off the ground and lean your upper body forward
* Shift your body weight on your palms and lift your left leg off the floor
* Cross your left leg over your right and create a firm lock
* Straighten your legs and look forward
* Make sure your arms are bent at a 90 ° angle
* Focus on one point and hold this asana
* Repeat the same on the other side
Padahasthasana
* Start in Samasthithi
* Exhale and bend forward with your upper body
* Drop your head and keep your shoulders and neck relaxed
* Try to bring the trunk closer to the legs
* Place the palms on each side of the feet
* Try to keep the legs and knees straight throughout the practice
* Hold this asana for a while
Paschimottanasana (Sitting forward attack)
* Start at Dandasana where your legs are stretched forward
* Keep your knees slightly bent if necessary
* Raise your arms and keep your spine straight
* Exhale and lean forward
* Try to grab your toes with your fingers
* Hold the posture for 10 seconds
Utkatasana (Chair pose)
* Start with Samasthithi.
* Join the palms to form Namaste at your heart chakra and raise your arms
* Bend your knees and slowly lower your pelvis
* Make sure your pelvis is parallel to the floor with a 90 degree flexion at the knees
* Align your ankles and knees in a straight line
* Focus your gaze on your Namaskar
* Make sure your spine stays straight
“Yoga builds muscular endurance which boosts a runner’s capacity for strength. An important aspect of yoga is that it improves the quality of your breathing, which can be very helpful during an activity such as running. on foot, ”explains the Yoga Guru.
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