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calmwithnicole

Reasons to take a 'body holiday'...

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog. I’ve had ideas which have then either become elements of my monthly newsletter or a social media post. With ever increasing pressures on people’s time and money, I thought it would be helpful to write a piece about the benefits of yoga. Why might you come to one of my classes and in particular why is yoga good for runners? What can you expect in return? I hope this is also a helpful reminder for those of you who have been practising for a while.


So here goes. There is a growing evidence base, and by this I mean ‘proper’ academic research, not simply statements made by yoga influencers on social media, about the benefits of yoga. This includes:


  • Reduced Stress and Anxiety – shallow breathing, poor posture and tense muscles are both results and causes of anxiety. In yoga we deepen the breath, improving posture and relaxing the muscles which can all help reduce stress and anxiety.

  • Improved Sleep Quality – a study presented at the Associated Professional Sleep Society’s Annual Meeting in 2015, revealed that people who practise yoga regularly are more likely to get 7 – 8 hours of sleep per night. I often get feedback from students who say they sleep better after they have attended one of my classes.

  • Improved Balance and Flexibility – you do not need to be able to contort your body into a pretzel shape to do yoga and I am proof of that. However, yoga does improve flexibility which has multiple benefits including making it easier to move your joints in a normal direction with less effort. Similarly, balance poses not only help as we age, reducing the risk of falls, but bring greater mental focus. They can also be fun!

  • Increased Strength – building strength is not something most people usually associate with yoga, yet it does this using our own body weight to hold postures. Strong muscles do more than look good. They protect us from conditions like back pain, boost our metabolism and there is also some research that they can boost our immune system.

  • Increased Focus – practising yoga requires focus and not only when you are trying to stand on one leg in Tree pose! In many other physical activities people listen to music or podcasts to distract themselves from the task in hand and indeed music is increasingly being played in some yoga classes. However, for me one of the joys of yoga is being able to immerse yourself completely in the present moment. There’s a great meme which says that the hardest part of yoga is putting your mobile phone to one side for an hour.

For you athletes out there – and I don’t use that term loosely – you’re an athlete whether you’re Dina Asher-Smith, a dedicated club runner or, as one of my teachers calls them, weekend warriors! Yoga is fast becoming a core part of training in a variety of sports including Premier League football. As far back as 1981, The New York Road Runners’ Club tried Ashtanga Yoga (a dynamic, flow form of yoga) and discovered it created strength and dramatically improved their flexibility. So what could yoga do for you and your running? Here’s just a few examples:


  • Increased body awareness – this is a big one for me. At the start of class we do a ‘check in’, usually lying down on the mat noticing, perhaps for the first time that day, how we feel physically. It’s rare that we truly stop and fully pay attention to what our body is telling us. This awareness offers us a greater understanding of how our bodies feel ‘normally’ and enables us to act on any messages it might be flagging. This might include differentiating between finding ‘your edge’ in your sport and acute pain. Through breath work and our physical (asana) practice, yoga also brings awareness to our form and breath which is beneficial in a training session or race.

  • Prehab, rehab and recovery – often as athletes we are so focussed on our training that we neglect our recovery. This is an essential part of any training programme and can include active recovery such as yoga. Naturally people tend to think of yoga as ‘stretching’ and working through our physical practice is an integral part of that. However, coming to stillness in Savasana (Corpse pose) at the end of class offers the opportunity to rest and for our cells to replenish. During this time we might also practise a muscle relaxation technique or visualisation – the latter could be beneficial in a race environment. Practising yoga not only relieves soreness and tension in the muscles reducing the risk of injury but can improve recovery time.

  • Marginal gains – if you’re looking to gain an edge over your competitors, whether that’s the pesky person always in front of you at parkrun or to beat your own personal bests, yoga offers a range of tools and techniques to support you. How these might be incorporated into my classes have been mentioned above.

  • No pressure as a sport, running is focussed on pushing yourself to constantly move forward, achieve personal bests and beat the competition. Yoga is non-competitive and offers a focus on the here and now. In the words of Vanda Scaravelli ‘Practising yoga is like being on a body holiday’.



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