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- Teaching Power Yoga for Sports
Show your athletes how yoga can propel their performance to the next level. Teaching Power Yoga for Sports prepares you to develop and teach yoga programs that are directly relatable to specific sports and player positions, resulting in more resilient athletes who consistently compete at the top of their game.
Author Gwen Lawrence shares her approach, developed through years of work with sports’ top professional teams; NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, and MLB coaches; and elite athletes. She takes into account the athlete’s training cycle, the position they play, and common movements and injuries in the sport. In this book, she offers detailed, easy-to-implement instruction on the following:
• Safe and effective poses that complement common movements in sport
• Yoga routines, organized by sport and season
• Ways to spot and fix posture and alignment imbalances before injury occurs
• Five restorative sequences to facilitate recovery and long-term stability
• Six facets of Power Yoga for Sports: balance, strength, flexibility, focus, breathing, and mental toughness
• Mindfulness tools for developing focus, clarity, and determination
Exclusive to this book are invaluable sport-specific sequences for athletes participating in a range of sports: football, soccer, basketball, baseball and softball, hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, wrestling, golf, tennis and racket sports, skiing, swimming, running, cycling, and mixed martial arts. For each sport, you’ll find the top five poses that most closely mimic that sport’s movements, along with accompanying images that compare each pose to an athlete in action.
Gain valuable teaching and coaching skills you can immediately put into practice with your athletes. Learn to train the whole body and mind with powerful yoga poses, breathing techniques, and mental focus activities. With Teaching Power Yoga for Sports you will develop balance, strength, flexibility, and performance in your athletes and help them thrive in a long and successful sporting career.
Chapter 1. Why Athletes Need Power Yoga
Chapter 2. Anatomy, Alignment, and Assessment
Chapter 3. Mindfulness Tools
Chapter 4. Maximize Your Yoga Practice
Chapter 5. Standing Poses
Chapter 6. Seated Poses
Chapter 7. Floor Poses and Inversions
Chapter 8. Sport-Specific Sequences
Chapter 8. Ready-to-Use Yoga Sequences
Chapter 9. Restorative Sequences
Gwen Lawrence, BS LMT E-RYT500, has been the team yoga coach for a number of professional sport teams, including the New York Giants, New York Knicks, New York Yankees, NYCFC, New York Redbulls, and New York Rangers. She is also an adjunct professor at Manhattanville College. She has been in the fitness industry for over 20 years and is an entrepreneur, business owner, massage therapist, yoga school owner, curriculum writer, speaker, yoga coach, author, and video producer. She earned her bachelor of science degree in art and dance, and she is a licensed massage therapist, registered yoga teacher, and registered yoga therapist. She is a member of the Yoga Teachers Association and Yoga Alliance.
Lawrence has been influential in gaining acceptance of yoga as an integral part of athlete training in the world of professional sports. She developed the Power Yoga for Sports program™ over a decade ago, and it was named Best Sports Medicine Innovation by ESPN Magazine. She created and teaches mindfulness programming (The Way of the Mindful Athlete); clients of the course include the coaches and players from the New York Giants and New York Knicks, New York state teachers, NCAA college athletes, and elite high school athletes. Another project close to her heart is her commitment to working with military veterans and helping them cope with PTSD and ease reentry into civilian life.
Lawrence has presented training workshops in more than 18 countries and 28 states. She is an official spokesperson for Gaia TV, a two-time ambassador for Lululemon, and ambassador for Kulae, Prismsport, and Torq-King. Her writing has appeared in Men's Health, Women's Health, Fitness Magazine, Shape Magazine, Yoga Journal, and Details magazine, as well as on Shape.com, ESPN.com, and ESPNW.com, where she also serves a monthly contributor. She makes regular appearances on NBC’s Today show, The Dr. Oz Show, Good Day New York, and many TV news and national radio shows, and she is cohost of her own show, The Better Man Show.
“Gwen Lawrence led my players in yoga exercise for 12 years. She is a highly motivated individual who has the tremendous skill of applying the principles of yoga to meet the specific needs of athletes. Her creativity and knowledge of yoga enabled her to provide exercises that worked around a player’s physical limitations. Many professional athletes have a history of injuries that limit them from bending their bodies in certain positions. Whether it was an arthritic knee or an ailing back, Gwen was able to manipulate an exercise so that the athlete was able to benefit from the movement.”
Tom Coughlin, Former Head Coach of the New York Giants
“I really loved my five years of yoga sessions with Gwen Lawrence. She is a great teacher and helps you achieve whatever goals you set. She is always positive and in a great mood, which makes her sessions that much better!”
Prince Amukamara, Cornerback for the Chicago Bears
“I feel that I get the most benefits from Gwen Lawrence’s yoga as part of my recovery routine, with her restorative postgame yoga. I find my soreness reduced, and I gain flexibility and feel ready for the week ahead!”
Kerry Wynn, Defensive End for the New York Giants
“I have been doing yoga with Gwen Lawrence for the past six years, and I find it to be a necessary part of my training routine. Gwen takes her time to guide each of us through every one of the positions, thoroughly explaining the importance of each stretch. Gwen is personable and knowledgeable, and she brings a gentle spirit to each class.”
Mark Herzlich, Linebacker for the New York Giants
“Since coming to the New York Giants, working with Gwen Lawrence has been a great addition for me in my training and recovery routines. Her yoga sessions allow me to set aside time to focus solely on improving flexibility, strength, and power-through movements designed perfectly for football players.”
Ryan Nassib, Former Quarterback for the New York Giants
“The fact that Gwen knows the sports—she takes the time to get to know the different positions and the different needs of the specific athlete she’s working with. And I think that’s what sets Power Yoga for Sports apart. . . . It’s just one of those things that I gotta incorporate into my life every day.”
Amani Toomer, Former Wide Receiver for the New York Giants
“The Yankees have utilized Gwen Lawrence’s services as an alternative way of improving the core stabilization program of our players through her system of Power Yoga for Sports. I have found her to be extremely professional and look forward to working with her more.”
Brian Cashman, Senior Vice President and General Manager for the New York Yankees
“We have been clients of Gwen Lawrence’s for 12 years and cannot give her a stronger recommendation. She has given us a tremendous boost in taking care of our various aches and pains and sports injuries over the years.”
Joy and Regis Philbin, Television Personalities
“Gwen has been the yoga coach for the New York Giants all of the years I’ve been in the franchise. Our players flock to her sessions to improve their flexibility, balance, and breathing awareness. She has had a tremendous impact on our performance enhancement.”
Bill Sheridan, Current Linebacker Coach for the Detroit Lions, Linebacker Coach for Boston College, and Former Assistant Coach of the New York Giants
“Gwen is great; she ALWAYS makes you feel like you can do it!”
Hoda Kotb, Television Personality
“I have worked with Gwen for only a couple of months and I have recognized tremendous gains in my flexibility, core strength, and balance, which are essential to staying healthy and explosive. I consider myself lucky to have learned as much from Gwen as I have in such a short time.”
Kevin Boothe, Former Offensive Guard for the New York Giants
“I had some unusual thoughts and preconceived notions about what yoga was really going to be, and she kinda wiped those totally out . . . I really felt like it was going to be breathing and light stretching, but nothing could have been further from the truth.”
Shaun O’Hara, NFL Analyst and Former Offensive Lineman for the New York Giants
“My mom tried to get me to practice yoga for a long time before she found Power Yoga for Baseball online. I was 14 the first time I did it, and as a senior in high school I was using the DVD a few times a week. Now I use it at least three days a week as a professional. I believe it has helped me with my flexibility, obviously, but also with my focus and ability to calm myself down if I need to, and with my balance. It’s a great addition to my strength training. I am so glad to have found these DVDs because I am not sure I would have been open-minded enough to really give yoga a chance if I had to do my mom’s videos or take regular yoga classes. Power Yoga for Baseball is the perfect way to introduce athletes to the benefits of yoga.”
Dante Bichette Jr., New York Yankees First Pick in the 2011 MLB Draft
“Gwen Lawrence has been a personal friend of mine for over 10 years. She has developed a unique profession that combines the best from the worlds of yoga and massage therapy. She combines conventional stretching and strength and balance training with the teachings of mental discipline and breath awareness—all of which are so vital in the world of professional athletics.”
Frank Gifford, NFL Hall of Famer
“She conducts class with tremendous professionalism and makes it challenging to the athletes. She relates very well to our players and commands their respect. I believe that Gwen is an outstanding yoga coach who provides a valuable experience for those athletes who consistently participate in her class.”
Jerry Palmieri, Strength and Conditioning Coach for the New York Giants
“I’m a triathlete. The swimmming part was the hardest for me because my technique wasn’t very good. Then I met Gwen Lawrence and her innovative method, Power Yoga for Sports. Since then, I’ve gotten more flexibility and I improved my swimming technique, becoming faster and breaking my personal records! Thank you very much, Gwen.”
Gabriel Ruivo, Triathlete from Portugal
“It is vital for the team and the player to have this skill: to be able to divorce themselves from what just happened to them, like a referee’s bad call or issues with an opponent. You must be able to center yourself again.”
Phil Jackson, Former NBA Coach and Basketball Hall of Famer
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
Six facets of the Power Yoga for Sports system
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes’ ability to reach their potential.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Over the course of creating Power Yoga for Sports, I boiled its effectiveness down to six components: balance, strength, flexibility, mental toughness, focus, and breathing. Each component has been carefully thought out and is pivotal to athletes' ability to reach their potential. In baseball, a great player is called a five-tool athlete; in Power Yoga for Sports, I teach the six tools. No single tool can create excellence on its own; they build on each other, and at different times athletes must focus on different areas to improve. Yoga is not just all about stretching.
Balance
Balance can be understood in two ways: in terms of dynamic equilibrium and in terms of the body's symmetry and alignment. Following the Power Yoga for Sports program and following routines laid out in this book, an athlete will develop better proprioceptive, physical balance. You can simply think of this form of balance as your ability to maintain your base of support. In physics and in art, a line of gravity is used to define balance. Improving your balance involves improving your ability to keep your line of gravity over your base of support by shifting an imaginary plumb line from your chin (if standing) directly over the base of support.
Balance in relation to Power Yoga for Sports is the ability to move your body accurately and efficiently while playing your sport. It also involves being agile enough to change position on a dime without falling or losing your bearings.
Balance and Your Body's Sensory Systems
Maintaining balance requires the coordination of three different sensory systems in your body: the vestibular system, the somatosensory system, and the visual system.
Vestibular System
The vestibular system consists of the sense organs in your head, specifically your ears, which regulate your equilibrium and give your brain directional information about head position and change of position and about your movement in relation to what is moving around you. The best thing you can do to improve this system is go barefoot as much as possible, as is done in yoga. A common practice in yoga to improve balance is to use drishti, or a point of focus, in which you rest your gaze on a chosen point during yoga practice and movement. Focusing on a fixed point improves your concentration in a game situation because it's easy to become distracted when your eyes are moving around to take in your surroundings or to monitor the actions of your opponent. Drishtis also help in establishing proper alignment.
Somatosensory System
The somatosensory system comprises nerves called proprioceptors in your muscles and joints along with the pressure and vibration sensors in your skin and joints. These receptors are sensitive to stretch or pressure in the surrounding tissues. With any movement of the legs, arms, hands, or other body parts, sensory receptors react by carrying impulses to the brain to maintain balance and prevent a fall. You can observe this in yoga. Have you ever tried a warrior 3 pose and felt the constant and subtle actions of all the small muscles in the foot and ankle as you held your position? Try right now to simply stand in a quiet room in mountain pose with your arms down by your sides and your eyes closed. Notice the vacillations in your feet; that is the somatosensory system at work. To improve it, regularly practice your yoga, giving special attention to balance poses on one foot. (See standing poses in chapter 5.)
Visual System
The visual system relies on your eyes to figure out where your head and body are in space and your location in space relative to other objects or players on the field. To help improve your vision, you should limit the time you are exposed to blue light interference from sources such as a TV or computer. Avoid eyestrain as much as possible; for example, read in proper lighting, and allow your eyes to rest for six to eight hours a night. You need to have good eyes, good ears, and healthy muscles and joints to be properly balanced. One practice for improving the visual system is to vigorously rub your hands together until they become hot, then lean your elbows on a table and cup your hands over your eyes. In my experience, this practice allows the healing heat to penetrate the eyes, then the optic nerve, and eventually the brain to relax and release tension.
When you take care of your vestibular, somatosensory, and visual systems and follow the Power Yoga for Sports routines, your movements become smoother and easier. This will help you to become more effective at your sport. Working on balance will certainly help you on the field. Your body must be able to support compromising positions that your sport puts you in. If you have better balance, acrobatic plays will be commonplace for you; your performance will improve, and you will have less risk of injury.
Balance and Symmetry of Your Body
The second part of balance, and the one that is more important to the Power Yoga for Sports system, is symmetry of the muscles and the alignment of the body, taking into consideration all external bumps and torques. Most sports are one-side dominant: You throw from one side, your kick strength is stronger on one side than the other, your serve is one-side dominant, and so on. The sport that may be the most innately symmetrical is swimming. Each of us has a dominant side, so you can never be perfectly symmetrical. However, with careful mindfulness and body awareness, you can become immediately aware when you are too far off balance. Power Yoga for Sports can teach you to understand asymmetries and address them before they become imbalances. Be proactive in preventing injury, rather than reactive in recovering from injury.
Think of it this way: Symmetry problems are like caring for a car. If you never rotate the tires on your car, you may end up driving on a misaligned car with a balding tire that eventually ruptures. Or think of a monster truck—those absurdly large trucks with extremely large tires to match! Now imagine replacing the passenger-side tires of that monster truck with tires meant for a small two-door sedan. Sounds ridiculous, right? It is the same with your body. Unfortunately, we are often more careful with our cars than we are with our own bodies. Imagine the damage the monster truck would sustain to the undercarriage and how terribly it would drive. I see people walking around every day with absurd misalignments in their bodies, and it pains me.
To help athletes to address their imbalances, you must understand the planes of the body and their relation to movements. Figure 1.1 shows the three planes the body moves in—sagittal, frontal, and transverse. If you take into consideration imbalances, tight spots, knots, and excess scar tissue in conjunction with these planes of motion, I believe it will be easier for you to understand why asymmetries can cause the body to move awkwardly and, even worse, to incur tears and strains.
Figure 1.1 Three planes of motion: sagittal, transverse, and frontal.
Take a look at the sagittal plane, which slices the body in half down the middle to create a perfect right side and left side. This is the plane in which the body performs flexion and extension, such as bending forward or extending into a backbend, and the even more detailed flexion of the knees and front of the shoulders. When you look at the body and visualize the sagittal plane, you can better identify left- and right-side imbalances that are out of the ordinary. You can also visualize all the movements done on the sagittal plane that must not cross the cut wall—for example, kicking the leg straight out in front, not across the body because that movement would break through the wall.
Next, recognize the frontal plane. The frontal plane divides the body into a front and a back. This is not symmetrical like the sagittal plane (the front of your body looks different than the back of your body), but you can spot asymmetry here when you see people who are too far forward on their feet and overload the front or too far back and overload the back. You can also identify imbalance here if you see someone with poor posture and a hunched back. The frontal plane is where the movement of abduction (moving away from the midline) happens—for example, performing a side kick or raising your arm straight out to the side. The body also adducts (moves back toward the midline of the body) in this plane; squeezing your inner thighs together or bringing your arms toward the body are examples of adduction.
Finally, we analyze the transverse plane. This plane separates the body at the waist to form a top body from the waist up and a bottom body from the waist down. This plane is an important one for athletes because the transverse plane is where rotation of the spine occurs. Every sport requires athletes to twist their bodies to generate torque or to create a large field of vision. If you do simple seated twists, you can immediately notice which side you twist toward more easily and which side presents more resistance.
Movement in the transverse plane can seriously affect your level of play. For example, imagine you are running toward the goal in a soccer game while dribbling the ball in front of you. You move effortlessly to the left, but you are more limited in your ability to rotate to the right. In this case, you might lose some field of vision on the tight side, and opponents might sneak up on you more easily from this side and steal the ball. Opposing coaches can pick this out on films of your performance, and they can target your weak right-side skills as vulnerability. Power Yoga for Sports can help you to address these asymmetries and make corrections so you can excel. This idea comes back into play when we discuss the importance of eye dominance and symmetry of the eyes in chapter 2.
Alignment in power yoga
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete’s body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Before you determine the yoga poses that best fit an athlete's body and sport, you need to understand the movement skills required of that sport and how those movements affect alignment. Study the sport as much as you can, either in person or by watching videos or television. Consult with coaches and trainers, and consider these questions:
- Does the sport involve or require endurance, such as being able to run several miles during competition?
- Does the sport involve or require quick agility moves, such as those of receivers and defensive backs in football who change direction on a dime?
- Does the sport involve or require diving, such as when a soccer goalkeeper makes a save?
- Does the sport involve or require twisting motions, as in basketball, football, or baseball?
- Does the sport involve or require jumping, like a basketball or volleyball player must do?
- Does the sport involve or require static movement that is powered from the core, as in skiing?
- Does the sport involve or require mental strength, like that of a quarterback or pitcher?
- Does the sport involve or require upper-body-driven movement, as in golf or swimming?
- Does the sport involve or require lower-body-driven movement, like running or playing as a football receiver?
These questions will help you to understand what the sport requires and what types of movement skills an athlete must develop or maintain to excel in that sport. Yoga can enhance or improve those skills with regular practice of the poses and techniques you will learn in later chapters. When you feel you have a comprehensive grasp of a sport's demands, you can begin to visualize poses that complement the athlete's current training and add challenge. Remember the six facets of PYFS that we learned about in chapter 1. Then you can start to consider additional relevant information to help you formulate the most effective routines for your athletes.
Observe and Question
When you watch games or competitions, drill down to the specifics. Think of the different positions within the sport. For example, baseball pitchers, catchers, and outfielders all move differently throughout a game, and they each benefit from yoga techniques that are specific to their positions. It's incredibly important for you to consider the duties of each athlete on the field of play and how that person's body moves. This type of thinking is what separates PYFS from a “regular” yoga class. Also keep in mind that not only do you want to strengthen the body for repetitive sport positions, you also want to include poses that unwind the body and relieve the constant stress from those repetitive positions. A good example would be a catcher's squat, where the stress is on the back and hips. In this case, an inverted table is a good pose to use to open the hip flexors.
What game-related improvements will athletes see once they start yoga?
After one to three months of consistent sport-specific practice (two to four times a week), your athletes will experience freely moving joints, better functional strength, improved body symmetry, and better breath control. These improvements support ease of movement on the field, increased power of movement, accuracy of execution, and better recovery after games.
Also, look for repetitive movements. Is there a natural movement that is regularly made in the position and sport you are observing? Of course there is, so stretch and strengthen the commonly used muscles and joints. Sports tend to be one-side dominant; therefore, they create imbalances. Be aware of misalignments that are born of repetitive moves. Learn about the injuries that are most common to each position in a sport. These can often be traced back to imbalances that come from overuse. The challenge is how to correct for these imbalances. We can never make the body perfect because there is always a dominant side (righty or lefty), but we can lessen the asymmetry and make it more manageable.
Also, listen to your players. They will offer clues and straight-up complaints about their nagging aches and pains. At the beginning of each class, ask if there are any new injuries, aches, or pains, and be ready to adjust your routine on the fly to accommodate these ailments. PYFS coaches should remember their players' injuries and complaints and use that information to prepare routines and classes. This makes for successful PYFS teachers who can think on their feet and prove their value. A good way to observe imbalances with your athletes is to begin class with simple assessment poses to help you direct the class for the best results; we cover assessments in the next section of this chapter.
Teach Self-Awareness
It is critical when teaching athletes that you give them tools that not only make sense to them but also allow them to learn and assess on their own. Do not worry; they will always come back to you for classes! But giving them tools to succeed outside class is invaluable. Suggest ways that they can change how they see their bodies. I often take pictures (without showing the face or other identifiable clues so there is no threat to their privacy) so they can see with their own eyes what I am telling them is going on with their symmetry and their bodies. It has been my experience that when an athlete can see her issues, they become more real to her, and she becomes more motivated to fix the problems.
Practice this yourself as a teacher: take notice of asymmetry, misalignments, and other physical clues that can be addressed. As you teach a Power Yoga for Sports class, give the athletes helpful cues to feel their feet in their shoes, the clothes on their bodies, and the symmetry in their form. Too often they are so focused on the workout, game, or opponent that they tune out of their bodies, to their detriment. They need to learn to feel their clothing, the ground beneath them, the impact of the weather on their skin, and their rate of respiration. Being in tune with their bodies and their surroundings can help them to better regulate their bodies to maximize performance, not to mention reduce injuries if something feels or looks off.
This idea of both feeling and seeing the body is critical for athletes. They should look for asymmetries, bumps, bulges, or misalignments, which tend to be precursors to injuries created by imbalances. Encourage them to look in the mirror and truly see, not just look. They should follow the outline of their form and compare both sides daily. They must be advocates for their own bodies to reap long-term rewards and longevity. It is your job as their Power Yoga for Sports coach to teach them to understand and notice body alignment so that they do not ignore and therefore train misalignments.
Why is body symmetry so important?
Just as an aligned car is important to performance, safety, and efficiency, the body must be in balance to work at its best. The more in balance the body is, the more effortless the movements and the lower the risk of injury.
Power yoga poses for golfers
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque.
This is an excerpt from Teaching Power Yoga for Sports by Gwen Lawrence.
Golfers require great hand grip and open forearms, symmetrical back muscles, and back strength. They also need open hips and deep spinal rotation for powerful torque. Finally, they need flexible necks, clear eyes, a calm mind, and calm breathing to deal with high-pressure situations.
Common Injuries in Golf
Back problems, imbalance issues, tight hips and wrists, neck strain, mental challenges
Yoga Poses Closely Related to Movements in Golf
Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose improves overall balance and stability and increases spinal rotation, which will give the golfer more power.
Lizard (pg. 71)
This pose clearly mimics the needs of the focused golfer, with its deep twisting action and rotation of the neck to track the rolling ball's potential path.
Squat (pg. 79)
This pose opens the groin and inner thigh to help release pressure on the knees and free up the spine for better rotation.
Top Five Poses for Golf
1. Pigeon (pg. 178)
It is very important for a golfer to have clear, open hips to rotate and drive the ball. It is important to always open both sides, not to surrender to the massive imbalance that golf creates. Pigeon is preferred to get a deep hip stretch and opposite quad flexibility. Do this pose for five minutes on each side.
2. Hero's Pose with Toes Tucked (pg. 115)
Picture the finished pose of driving the ball, up on that back toe. Hero's pose with toes tucked supports great finesse at the finish. Do this pose for two minutes.
3. Boat Pose (pg. 111)
This pose not only strengthens a golfer's core but also increases back strength and improves posture for better breathing in critical pressure spots. Do this pose for one minute three times.
4. Inverted Plank (pg. 138)
This pose is a nice complement to golf. This pose opens the chest and anterior shoulder for better posture and increased spinal rotation. It strengthens the arms, opens the wrists to decrease wrist strain, and increases grip strength. It also adds a little power to the legs. Do this pose for one minute three times.
5. Lunge Twist (pg. 98)
This pose increases power and strength in the legs and at the same time enables the golfer to increase spinal twist for more power on the tee. Do this pose for one minute on each side.
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