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Pre-apocalypse reasons to practice yoga

1. Increase flexibility, mobility, and balance which is good for running, aging, and other life things
2. Strengthen your entire core, shoulders, and legs
3. Learn to facilitate feelings of ease in your body while doing stressful things – a very important life skill

Post-apocalypse reasons to practice yoga

1. Improved circulation gives you a more efficient survivor’s body. I’ve noticed stronger veins in my arms and hands which I imagine will improve my healing times (or make me bleed out faster…)
2. Being more flexible will allow you to fit into oddly non-zombie-shaped spaces
3. A stronger core will make you less susceptible to running injuries

Headstand fun

I’m a yogi

A beginner yogi anyway. I did at-home yoga for a few years, mainly to stretch my runner’s muscles. I was also exposed to some yoga moves as warm-up exercises in some of my pole classes. But I only started regularly going to real yoga classes in 2014. I understand the trepidation of going to your first yoga class. I wrote The Anxious Person’s Guide to Trying Yoga, Maybe if that gives you a hint.

Yoga seems like a natural bridge between my pole dancing and running habits. It benefits my upper body for pole, my lower body for running, and my core and flexibility for both. As a beginner, I loved playing around with challenging poses, relying on my strength to get me into trouble by doing poses I probably have no business trying as a young yogi (much like in pole). As I continued, I learned to love the focus on breath and marrying ease with effort. Regularly practicing that stuff on a yoga mat makes it easier to practice off the mat when life is stressful.

Yoga Resources on the Blog

• The Anxious Person’s Guide to Trying Yoga, Maybe
• Runners Try Yoga: Interviews with 3 runners who try yoga for the first time
• Intro to Vinyasa Yoga: I call it the gateway to yoga for runners. It’s fast-paced and gets you sweaty, like a 3 mile run.
• Yin Yoga: For those who have or want to build patience, this style is perfect for runners and desk workers (and especially if you’re both). It’s my favorite style of yoga right now.
  • Yin Yoga for Runners + 5 Juicy Poses
  • Interview with Lynne McSweeney of Savannah Yoga Barre on Running and Yin
  • 7 things to know before your first Yin yoga class.
• Restorative Yoga: Sometimes called “Adult Nap Time”, restorative yoga allows you to have stillness in your day. This post has some of my favorite restorative poses that you can do at home.

Running and yoga complement each other very well. I am glad I got over my anxiety and impatience to embrace yoga. It not only benefited my running, but also my life.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_masonry_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”-1″ style=”load-more” grid_id=”vc_gid:1504040529667-e909e9f6-cedb-4″ taxonomies=”212″][/vc_column][/vc_row]