I was first introduced to yoga when I became very serious in my ice skating career. Many people associate figure skaters with flexibility and grace. However, most skaters don’t just practice skating, and become flexible. Many skaters took ballet, but I found yoga to be the perfect parallel practice.
Yoga isn’t just for figure skaters, it has become a huge part of training among professional sports teams. Such as the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, NBA player Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James from the Miami Heat, and Ray Lewis from the Baltimore Ravens just to name a few. Triathletes, marathon runners, swimmers, MMA fighters, and pretty much every sport you can think of has started practicing yoga to benefit their performance.
Yoga is the perfect practice to incorporate into every athlete’s routine. Many endurance athletes develop shortened hamstrings, and hip flexors because they don’t stretch out their muscles. Yoga not only elongates muscles, but also works the muscles around the joints. Gaining full movement in the body helps performance as well as preventing injuries caused by tight muscles.
By practicing yoga I was able to lengthen my muscles, as well as strengthen and tone weaker areas. Yoga helped me build my upper body strength, and solid core muscles. Yoga will work muscles that other exercises cannot engage, providing athletes with strength in all areas of their body.
One of the greatest things yoga taught me is how to breathe in and out through my nose, utilizing the entire capacity of my belly, ribcage and upper chest. I was able to practice my routine multiple times in a row, rather than once needing to catch my breath. I was able to push myself to practice longer, and try new things. The breathing techniques also helped my endurance when long distance running.
Practicing yoga helped me become fully aware of my body. I was able to realize when I was working too hard, or when I could work harder. This new control of my body helped calm my anxiety. Preparing for competitions and performances not longer felt scary. On the ice I was able to block out theaudience, judges, other competitors, and just be with myself. I learned how to keep my mind in the present moment, alone on the ice, just like when I’m on my yoga mat. This mind body awareness is a huge benefit for athletes in practicing, performing, and pushing their limits.
In 2006 I had a serious fall on my tailbone. I read how yoga helped people quickly recover from injury. As I continued to practice yoga, I realized it was the ultimate well-rounded exercise. By the time my tailbone healed I was so fascinated with yoga I wanted to deepen my practice, and allowed the younger generation to take over the skating world.
I still run, bike, skate, and do various recreational activities. I’ve noticed weeks where I do more cardio exercise than yoga, and I feel my body start to break down. Incorporating yoga helps balance out my body. It brings nourishment, mobility, and restores the body.
Overall yoga has reshaped my entire body, inside and out. There are so many kinds of yoga making it available for everyone to have their own yoga practice that fits what he or she wants to get out of it.
Jessica Garris just graduated from CFYC 200 Hour Power Yoga Teacher Training
