Yoga for Golfers Tip from Katherine Roberts

PGA.com blogger John Kim recently reached out to renowned yoga expert Katherine Roberts, founder of Yoga for Golfers and Nike Golf Swoosh Elite Staff Member, to ask if she could provide one tip for golfers. 

Here's what she shared.:

 

Image Credit: Yogaforgolfers.com

"Hi John!

I had a great few weeks down at Spring Training and now able to think more about golfers. But in truth, regardless of the sport, in order for athletes to excel -  flexibility is paramount. The ability to stretch properly can add strength and improve performance in the ballpark and on the golf course (and other sports too of course).

Most golfers recognize that the golf swing consists of a motion that coils and uncoils the spine over a powerful lower body. There are yoga poses that help efficient torso turn and increase lower body strength.  In addition to torso rotation, proper stabilization of the shoulder supports club control and reduces shoulder injury. 

Remember, the upper arm bone should be drawn into the shoulder socket before the rotation for more stability and strength. The spinal rotation initiates from the deepest part of the lower abdominal muscles and funnels through the shoulder and out through the extended hand.

In your pre-round warm up, you might consider this yoga pose:

Starting Position- Step your left leg back into a long lunge, lift your left heel as high as possible. Right knee is at a 90-degree angle. Place your left hand directly under your left shoulder. Draw the right knee toward the mid-line of your body. Inhale deeply as you open your torso to the right. Exhale as you bring the torso and arm parallel to the ground. Repeat five times and switch sides. 

Throughout this motion concentrate on deep inhalation and exhalation. Focus on the quality of your breath throughout this dynamic flexibility and strengthening movement. Deep breath plus wide stretch is the foundation to athletic success. To learn more on how yoga can enhance your golf game performance visit: http://yogaforgolfers.com/."

To access the full article, click here

DC Yoga Week 2013

 

Calling all DC yogi's!  DC's annual yoga week begins today (April 29) and goes through Sunday, April 5.  Throughout the week, event sponsors DCCY (DC Community Yoga) will highlight member studios’ and partners’ offerings to the greater DC area.  The week will culminate with Yoga on the Mall, a free, all-level, outdoor community class on Sunday, May 5 from from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.  John Schumacher, Patty Ivey, Kevin Waldorf-Cruz, and Greg Marzullo will lead the class while certified teachers practice on stage as well as assist yogis on their mats.

DCCY 8th Annual Yoga Week

Mental Toughness Tips From the Cardinals Director of Mental Training

Dr. Jason Selk is the Director of Mental Training for the Cardinals.  Hired in 2006, Dr. Selk was added to Cardinals payroll in order to train them in mental toughness. They already had a coach to teach them the mechanics of pitching, batting, and fielding. What they really needed was to learn how to set goals, focus their priorities, stay positive, be disciplined, and win. The first year Dr. Selk was Director of Mental Training was the same year the Cards won the World Series.  He helped them win again in 2011.  Check out the highlights below.

1. Forget the home run and watch your swing instead.

If you focus on your target, such as accomplishing a big goal, you may never get there. Pay attention to your process instead. Identify those daily goals that have the greatest influence on your performance and, therefore, your success. If your aim is to double your income in one year, for example, then figure out three specific tasks, or process goals, you need to complete each day that will help you reach that ultimate target. Then be relentless and consistent about completing your three process goals every day.

2. Keep your eye on the ball.

Many highly productive people believe they can multitask and still maintain focus. The American Psychological Association cited a recent study showing that multitasking leads to as much as a 40 percent drop in productivity. Recent research from Stanford University found that multitaskers are not only less productive than their single-minded counterparts, but also suffer from weaker self-control. Don't let yourself get distracted; regain control of your performance. Do everything you can to complete the three essential tasks you identified above.

3. Be your own best ref.

If you want to be more productive, you need to establish your own limits – your "not to-do" list. This might include counterproductive tasks such as responding to work emails during family time, starting new tasks after 4:00 p.m., or saying yes right away to a new project instead of giving your answer the next day, after you've slept on it. Be sure that you're scheduling your calendar rather than allowing your calendar to schedule you.

4. Get plenty of R&R between workouts.

Nearly 4 out of 10 people are regularly fatigued, according to a recent study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Lack of sleep causes fatigue, and that's a productivity killer. In fact, the rate of lost productivity for workers with fatigue was 66 percent, compared with 26 percent for workers without fatigue. Fatigued workers lost an average of 5.6 hours per week of production time. Make rest, rejuvenation, and 7-9 hours of nightly sleep a priority.

5. Listen to your body.

When professional athletes try to push through the pain, they end up on the disabled list. In the workplace, this is known as "extreme working," and it results in lower performance. New research reported at Harvard Business Review found that 69 percent of extreme workers – super high achievers who regularly work 60-80 hours a week – admit that their extreme working habits undermine their health. Most of these workers can't sustain this level of performance and end up burning out, just like promising athletes who have to sit on the bench all season or retire early because of injuries.

To view the entire article, click here.

I'm an Athlete, Which Style of Yoga is Right For Me?

Interested in improving your flexibility with yoga? How about losing weight? Check out our Which Yoga is Right for Me© chart to find out which style of yoga is best suited for your needs. Start at the top and work your way around and remember, some goals have more than one compatible yoga style.

Mann Yoga, Copyright April 2013

Men, Yoga, and Injuries -- Don't Forget to Check Your Testosterone at the Door!

Why are men getting injured in yoga at such a higher rate than women?  Read on to find out!

We here at Mann Yoga keep seeing articles and studies describing the dangers of yoga for men.  We are particularly disturbed by this reporting trend because we understand the great benefit to men yoga can offer, provided they're exercising caution and not pushing themselves to the point of pain.

We have more than a few men on staff here at Mann Yoga, and all of them have varying degrees of familiarity with yoga.  Some found yoga as a result of needing to maintain fitness levels during the off season, some found it through their girlfriends, and other found it as a result of getting injured in another sport, who now use yoga for rehabilitation purposes.  How is it possible that the same exercises these individuals use for rehabilitation are the same exercises that inflicts injury in others? 

Here are a few statistics for those of you who fancy numbers.  Yoga Journal conducted a study in 2008 titled Yoga in America.  This study found that 15.8 million people practice yoga, and men make up 27.8% of that number.  Yet according to a more recent study on yoga injuries;  20% of the strains, 24% of the dislocations, 30% of the fractures, and 71% of nerve damage occurred in men.  The numbers for women were fractions of these numbers, in some instances less than 1%.  Why is it that although the vast majority of yoga practitioners are women, men receive the lions share of injuries?  We asked our staff what they thought and the overwhelming response was... TESTOSTERONE!

Most men are loaded with testosterone.  Some even take testosterone supplements to make themselves even manlier.  In plain English, testosterone is what makes men masculine; ladies have estrogen to make them feminine.  It's what makes their voices deep, their backs hairy, and its also what pushes them to relentlessly compete with one another, even to their own detriment.  Blame it on evolution; masculine men were the best hunters, fathered the most children, and had the largest collection of sabre-tooth tiger furs in their cave.  Today, instead of checking all that testosterone at the door (as is required by the unwritten rules of yoga for men), the misappropriation of all that testosterone in yoga class is what causes all these men to receive injuries.  They're trying to keep up with that dude in the front who can perform the sweetest inversions and touch his toes without a yoga block.  STOP IT!

Yoga is not about competition.  Any good yoga teacher will tell you that.  Yoga is about listening to your body and easing up BEFORE you hear a snap and feel the burning sensation of a ripped muscle or tendon.  Yoga is meant to gently stretch your body and unify the mind, body, and spirit into one harmoniously working unit.  If your brain is telling you to push yourself to keep up, its obviously not working in unison with your body and spirit.  Similarly, if your hamstrings are aching to the point of tearing all in the name of executing the perfect downward dog, that's your body's way of communicating that you need to slow your roll.

So men, chill out in yoga.  Leave your testosterone at the door.  It's not a competition (unless you're actually participating in one of the many yoga competitions to pop up in recent years), nor is it about keeping up with the yogi whose been practicing for a decade.  Its about listening to your body and mind when it's telling you to to back off that forward bend, or risk being a statistic.

Yogify your practice

 YOGIFY--A YOGA APP FOR EVERYONE

Check out this new app by EA Sports for yogi's.  We tried it out and we like how they offer a range of levels for people wanting to work on either flexibility, strength, or balance.  The workouts are affordable at $1.99, and since they're accessible through your ipad or iphone, they're extremely convenient as well.

 

High School Athletes Get Their Yoga on Too

High school athletes and non-athletes alike getting their yoga on... Props to the baseball team for leading the way.

New lessons on yoga mats - The Westerly Sun: News

Power Yoga for Athletes at Vida Metropole

Calling all DC athletes! This Sunday, 17 March, join Lauren Jacobs for a power yoga class at Vida Metropole.  The workshop will address the "most common sports and fitness related injuries and weaves the best yoga postures to avoid them into a 2-hour power yoga class."

The workshop is open to Vida members and non-members alike.  Workshop Cost: $20 Members; $25 Non-Members

If you make it to Vida, leave a note in the comments section telling us what you thought.

Active Life DC | Power Yoga for Athletes at Vida Metropole

Yoga for Men Gaining Popularity in NYC

Yoga is the hottest fitness craze these days. And it’s not just for women anymore!


Yoga For Men Gaining Popularity In NYC « WCBS-FM 101.1