Yoga Poses

Yoga: Injury Prevtion for runners

April 2, 2015 by Amber

I’m in the process of training for an ultramarathon (Squamish 50) and a marathon (BMO Marathon).

And let me tell you, it ain’t pretty.

I’m talking big juicy blisters under the pads of my toes.
I’ve even resorted to painting my toenails dark red in an attempt to hide my bruised and blackened nails.

But a couple of battered toes aren’t too bad of a sacrifice when training in such a high impact sport. Unfortunately, some people suffer from joint pain and injury while training. Knees are a common casualty of runners and high endurance athletes, which is why it is important to develop even strength throughout the muscles of the legs so that the knee joint is stabilized.

Click for full post

Anatomy:
Let’s break it down very simply.

Your femur is the long bone in your upper leg.
Your tibia is the bone in your lower leg, also known as your shine bone.
The round bone where these two meet is called your patella, or knee cap.
Together these comprise the knee joint, one of the largest and most complex joints of the human body.

Surrounding your femur are tendons (which attach muscle to bone), ligaments (connects bone to bone/cartilage) and the muscles of your hamstring and quadriceps.

Your hamstrings consist of three muscles that originate in your pelvis and run along the back of your leg.
Your quadriceps consist of four muscles that are situated at the front and side of your thigh. These four muscles come together to form a tendon that connects to your tibia by crossing your patella.

When you bend your knee your patella glides smoothly over the bottom part of your femur, an action that is largely facilitated by the muscles of your quadriceps.

By understanding how the knee joint works and moves it is easier to imagine how a muscular imbalance in the thigh may cause the knee joint to track off course. This causes stress on the joint and can lead to injury or inflammation of the meniscus (the shock absorbing cartilage in your knee).

So how does Yoga help?

Yoga can be an excellent preventative or even restorative practice for athletes with knee or joint issues.
Yoga asanas strengthen the muscles that support the knee, which helps to stabilize it and therefore prevent injury.
Yoga also improves balance and core strength, allowing you to move tactfully while running.

Aside from the benefits of stretching and strength building, yoga helps to increase an athlete’s awareness of their body, making them more sensitive to the warning signs of potential injury.

Phew! That was a lot of information.
If you are more of a visual or kinesthetic learner check out the most recent video I filmed for the globe and mail: Utkatasana/chair pose which is particularly good for building even strength in the legs, providing stability for the knee joints.

Click the image to view video

References:
Sports Injury Advice Website
Picture of the knee: © 2014 WebMD, LLC.
Chair pose anatomy photo: © 2005, 2006 Raymond A. Long MD.

Stretch out those ski legs! Yoga for Skiers

November 24, 2014 by Amber

This year I converted.

I made the switch from snowboarding to skiing.

I was motivated to convert after a trip to Elfin Lake hut last winter. I watched as the skiers quickly climbed hills with their skins, while I slowly trudged up the mountain on snowshoes with my snowboard strapped to my back.

Two weekends ago was my first time ever on skis. We hiked to Keith’s hut and skied Anniversary glacier. The next day my legs ached. Apart from being covered in bruises from all of the falls I took, my muscles were really sore-skiing gave my legs a serious work out!

So, with the start of the ski season, I’ve designed this little flow to help all the skiers stretch-it-out after enjoying some (hopefully) powder filled days!

Click for Skiers Yoga Flow

Butterfly/Bound Angle Pose {Baddhakonasana}

Baddhakonasana stretches out the groin and inner thighs, making it a wonderful pose for after skinning up a mountain or snowshoeing.• Sit with your legs extended straight out in front of you, if you have tight hips sit on a folded blanket
• Exhale and bend your knees, bringing your heels in close to your pelvis, feet flat on the floor
• If you are tight in the hips or groin move your heels further from your pelvis
• Relax your knees out to the sides (like an open book), bring the soles of your feet together and grasp your feet your hands
• For a deeper stretch, guide your feet in closer to your pelvis
• Press the outer edges of each foot into the floor
• Stay here and breathe
• To try a more advanced version, extend your torso forward over your feet as far as you can while maintaining a straight spine. Once you’ve reach your maximum extension with a straight spine, begin to round the spine, relaxing the head towards the floor. Elbows should be on the outside of your shins
• To come out: Inhale, lift your knees away from the floor (like closing a book), feet flat on the floor. Next extend your legs straight out in front of you
Wide Legged Forward Bend {Prasarita Padottanasana}
This pose helps to decompress the spine after skiing all day and stretches the back of the legs as well as the inner thighs
• Stand so you are facing the wide side of your yoga mat and step your feet wider than hip-width distance apart
• The taller you are the wider the distance between your feet should be; Or you can increase the distance if you want a deeper stretch
• Feet should be parallel to each other
• Press firmly into the mat with your big toe and outer edges of your feet
• Inhale, place your hands on your hips, lift up through the sternum and straighten your spine
• As you exhale, hinge your torso forward moving from the hips and maintaining a straight spine
• When your torso is parallel to the floor, release your hands to the mat (you may need to shorten the distance between your feet if you struggle here)
• Open the pelvis by rotating the inner groins away from each other
• Pressing the floor away from you, inhale and lift your chest up away from the floor
• As you exhale walk your hands between your feet, relax your head down while maintaining length in the back of your neck
• Bend at the elbows, upper arms perpendicular to your legs, fingertips pointing forward
• Keep the arms parallel to each other
• Maintain the length in the front of your torso while bending forward
• Spread and widen through the shoulder blades, lift the shoulders away from your ears
• To come out: walk your hands along the floor so that they are under your shoulders, lift your torso so that it is parallel with the floor. Place your hands on your hips and as you inhale root down through your tailbone and guide your torso to an upright position stacked ontop of your pelvis. Step the feet back hip width distance apart.
Downward Facing Dog Variations {Adhomukha Svanasana}
In one pose, downward facing dog targets many of the areas of the body that can tense up after a day of skiing. It stretches out the shoulders, hamstrings and calves. These two variations are also great ways to get the most out of this posture!

• Come to all fours on your mat; knees directly under your hips, palms slightly ahead of your shoulders (shoulder width apart), press your palms and the pads of each finger into the mat firmly
• Tuck your toes under and as you exhale lift you knees up off the mat, straightening your legs
• Lift your sit bones high towards the sky, coming up onto your tippy-toes
• Lengthen from your tailbone
• As you exhale release your heels to the mat (or as close as possible), firm your outer thighs
• Firm your outer arms and lift from your wrists up your inner arms to your shoulders
• Firm your shoulder blades on your back and draw them toward your pelvis slightly
• Do not let the head hang, maintain length in your neck but suspending the head in line with your straightened armsVariation I – Walk the

Dog

• From downward facing dog; as you exhale, bend your knee (alternatively/one at a time) towards your torso, lifting the heel off the ground
• Keep one leg straight and strong with the heel rooted down while you bend the opposite leg at the knee
• Keep the hands pressed firmly into your mat, pressing equaling through both hands
• Continue alternatively bending each knee until you feel you’ve warmed up the hamstrings sufficiently, then return to downdogVariation II – Knees to chest
• After walking the dog; Come to downward facing dog
• Inhale and lift your heels up off the mat, sit bones high to the sky, legs straight
• Press your hands firmly into your mat, and as you exhale bend both knees at the same time, releasing your thighs as close to your torso as possible while maintaining a straight spine
• Hold and breathe
• When you’re ready, inhale and straighten the legs
• As you exhale slowly release your heels to the mat, coming back into downward facing dog
Pigeon Pose {Eka Pada Rajakapotasana}
Pigeon is an excellent hip opening posture. It targets the hip flexors (the psoas and iliacus muscles), lengthening them and increasing mobility in the hips-making it the perfect pose for skiers! If you are tight in the hips have a prop on hand, a yoga block, folded blanket or pillow will work well.

• From Downward facing dog; Inhale and shift your weight forward, brining your right knee on the mat between your palms
• Your right ankle should be behind your left wrist, flex your right foot
• Using your palms for support, gently lower your pelvis towards the mat while sliding your left leg back straight; the left leg should be in line with your left hip, relax the top of your foot on the floor
• Centre your weight evenly in your pelvis and square your hips to the front of your mat; this is when your prop might come in handy, place a yoga block, pillow or folded blanket under your left hip to level out your pelvis. If your right hip doesn’t come close to the floor you can place support under both hips, ensure your pelvis is level
• If you want a deeper stretch, slide your right foot further from your pelvis
• Tuck your chin in slightly to elongate your spine and on your next exhale gently release your torso over your thigh; you can stack your palms and rest your cheek on your hands; or extend your arms forward, palms facing down and relax your forehead on the ground
• To come out: Inhale, pressing your palms into the mat for support, gently peel your torso up off your right thigh. Tuck the toes on your left foot under, inhale and slowly send your right leg back into downdog
Low Lunge {Anjanevasana}
This pose feels great after skiing! It stretches out the thighs and groin and offers variations depending how deep you want to get into the hip rotators.

• From Downdog; bring your gaze in between your palms at the front of your mat
• As you exhale step your right foot to the front of your mat between your palms
• Your right knee should be at a 90º angle, knee directly above your right ankle
• Keep the right knee fixed in this position and slide the left foot away from you while lowering the left knee to the floor, you should feel a nice stretch in the thigh and groin (if there is any pain, shorten the distance between your left knee and right foot)
• Flatten the left foot so that the top of the foot is on the floor
• Press the big toe and heel of your right foot firmly into the ground
• Lift your chest and firm your shoulders blades, as if you are squeezing a pencil between them

• **advanced** From here you can roll onto the outer edge of each foot, rotating your hips towards the right. Left palm on the mat stacked under your left shoulder, place your right palm on the inside of your right knee and gently press the knee away from you, sinking the left hip deeper towards the mat

Why is shavasana so important?

October 19, 2014 by Amber

शवासन
{Shavasana}

Shavasana, or corpse pose, is the relaxation pose that comes at the end of our yoga practice. Due to studio time constraints, more teachers are cutting shavasana short. Busier lives means some students have to rush for the door early, skipping this essential relaxation. It is often these people who can benefit most from it. In today’s high paced and over stimulated society, many people have forgotten how to relax.

Click to read full

What is Shavasana?
Shavasana appears to be one of the simplest postures, but many students often find it the most challenging. After we have moved through a series of asanas, or physical poses, the body needs time to consolidate and rebalance. In shavasana, the body can fully relax. With the palms face up and the arms and legs at approximately a 45 degree angle from the body, the joints are able to relax in their sockets. This also temporarily frees our muscles from the physical stress of supporting all of our bones and organs.

Benefits of Shavasana
Shavasana has many physical benefits.
Some of which include:

Improved sleep
Nervous system recovery
Decreases blood pressure and heart rate
Release of lactic acid build up
Reduced anxiety
Reduced acute & chronic stress
Improved concentration
Increased energy levels
A stronger immune system

Bringing awareness inward
Shavasana is not just a time to nap, it is a meditation. What makes it so challenging is that it requires us to relax while remaining aware and conscious. It is an excellent tool to increase awareness of your body, which in turn can also strengthen your yoga practice. During shavasana we systematically bring our awareness through our physical body, acknowledging any tensions and releasing them. Once the physical body is relaxed we shift our awareness to the mind.
The eyes are closed to limit sensory distractions and allow us to turn our awareness inward. Focusing on the natural rhythm of the breath is an excellent way to keep the focus on the present moment, preventing it from running away with the stories the mind wants to tell.

Still not convinced?
It is important to allow ourselves to relax, especially after a yoga class when we have just worked our physical body. Yoga is more than just a physical experience of asanas; it is a union, through breath and meditation, of our physical body, spiritual body and our minds. Shavasana is meditation, it is a time for the chatter of our mind and the stories we tell ourselves to dissolve. To focus inward, to visualize, dream and to surrender. You may be surprised what happens when you do.

Resources:
International Journal of Yoga article: Exploring the therapeutic effects of yoga and its ability to increase quality of life