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 theDog
• 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