Creating a harmonious relationship with your body is part of a healthy lifestyle, and a topic currently given increasing attention. Being aware of what I eat, running and my newest component yoga, are part and parcel of my daily life. Through the Take The Magic Step™ Health and Fitness Program I would love to pass on my experiences and provide inspiration and guidance for people who want to improve their health, fitness and quality of life.

Searching for Yoga: another form of healing

I came to yoga from competing in sports at the highest level. In 2000 I was still training for top-level sport events, but I was exhausted. I discovered that my usual strength, energy and a sense of harmony were missing. I felt increasingly tired and emotionally drained, and on top of that, I was dissatisfied with my fitness routine. Athletes employ an unusually hard training routine—their “bodies” are constantly called on to function at the highest level of performance. It is a “walk on the edge”: living with the ever-present risk of becoming injured or sick because of the enormous workload on the body. I was certain one component in my life was missing: a counterpart to the fiery, aggressive “Yang” I was surrounded with. I was looking for the more introspective “Yin”: a resting pole, the “quiet” side of my training routine to stay healthy and energized. At this time, more holistic forms of healing like Yoga and Chinese medicine, which had always interested me, came to my attention again. I was busy looking for new ideas that would restore my usual sense of balance so I was very curious and enthusiastic when I began practicing yoga in the spring of 2001.

Yoga and Running go well together

Right from the start yoga filled me with so much enthusiasm. I was actually surprised how time-effective it was—in a short time you could stretch out the body, deepen and relax the breath, and support the spirit. It also brought many practical elements together. Through yoga we learn to experience the body, mind, and spirit as one, which promotes calmness, harmony, and the correct alignment of the body. In addition, the practice of yoga is interesting for the sportsman or woman, since it presents an interplay of stretching, stabilization, breathing exercises and meditation. Right from the beginning I could feel that yoga and running complemented each other in a wonderful way. On one hand, running promotes good endurance for the yoga exercises as the body becomes more stable and strong. Running allows you to practice yoga with more stamina and a longer “breath.” In the meantime, yoga stretching, relaxation and breathing exercises can be specifically integrated into your running, or any other athletic training plan. Yoga exercises, or “asanas,” are done very slowly and in the proper way to align the body and prevent injuries. This makes them ideal for warming-up or cooling-down the athlete from another workout. They are beneficial in speeding up the recovery from a workout, and also in case of injury. Breathing exercises (Pranayama) promote energy and greater oxygen intake, and deep relaxation in the form of meditation, can prepare the athlete for competition, an upcoming training session, or on the other end of the spectrum, simply wind down the body. These are only a few of the benefits of yoga for the sportsman or woman. It was only a matter of time before yoga became the No.1 support for my running routine, alongside other traditional training methods like stabilization programs, swimming and biking. One may not think that yoga philosophy would complement the competitive nature of athletics, but it does. Yoga teaches focus, self-awareness and self-love. These lessons benefit the athlete—creating harmony from within. We can still be driven to train hard but now we can also balance that with less judgement and criticism of ourselves.

Yoga for Performance^sm and Yoga styles

Yoga stretching exercises, and breathing techniques became an integral part of my daily yoga and fitness routine. You can find these exercises (Asanas) in one of our future articles under the heading of “Yoga for Performance.” Our yoga program has certain sequences of asanas tailored for any kind of sport. It will guide you through a yoga stretching and stabilization program developed specifically for your sport, concentrating on those body target zones you use most. In general, “Yoga for Performance” promotes complete muscle alignment, stronger ligaments and greater flexibility to help prevent injuries. In addition, you can choose different sequences of asanas to help you warm-up for a workout, or to cool-down and subsequently restore energy. Equally important is that they also promote body awareness and concentration.

In the beginning I mostly enjoyed yoga stretching after long running workouts or on easy days of training to recover and relax my tired muscles. Soon my routine developed into a practice with more demanding exercises for stabilization and increased body strength, usually practiced on easy workout days. I took my time in choosing new yoga exercises, and sometimes it wasn’t easy to become familiar with them. Surely the body has wonderful ways to tell you what’s right and wrong, but there is no substitute for training under a competent teacher when you begin. Over a period of more than a year, I learned to fit different sequences of asanas into my running schedule and enjoyed creating my own, very individual program. I also added breathing techniques to my daily routine—in the morning to start the day, and also to relax after very intense training. Realize it is a learning process to find the balance between doing too much or not challenging yourself enough. I enjoyed the whole process of stepping into a new territory to support the training routine I already was familiar with.

In summer of 2004, I searched for guidance to learn more about body alignment and the traditional healing yoga philosophy, developed in India 5000 years ago and nowadays spread all over the world. I was curious and needed help in understanding the proper execution of certain asanas. I also wanted to improve my breathing exercises and add a new component to my routine: relaxing techniques in the form of meditation. I enjoyed private teaching as well as training in groups, which is a completely different dynamic, while also meeting many wonderful people along the way. I was fortunate to train under the guidance of experienced and well-known teachers in the style of Anusara Yoga (and currently continue to do so) and became interested in this fast-growing yoga style. Anusara, which means “flowing with grace,” is a heart-centered practice that is centered on an expression of self-acceptance, boundless connection and joy. Anusara Yoga became especially interesting because of its focus on the correct alignment of the body – unique for each individual—and summarized in Anusara’s Universal Principles of Alignment™. Of course there are many yoga styles to choose from, such as Iyengar, Ashtanga, Bikram, or Kripalu Yoga, to name just a few. I strongly recommend you take your time before beginning a yoga program. Check out the column “Yoga Styles” on our web page and ask around for the most qualified instructors in your area. It is really interesting and fun to learn about different yoga styles. Experiment with different ones, based on your feeling decide which style is most suitable for you. I hope in the future to incorporate additional styles into my own yoga routine.

Yoga practice

My yoga routine incorporates three components: Asanas (postures), Pranayama (breathing techniques) and Meditation. Yoga mostly means for me practice and recovery at the same time. In that I mean that I use yoga both as a calming down, recovery tool as well as a rejuvenating and energizing practice. When using it for recovery, yoga becomes less about athleticism—I focus on body alignment and a slow pace while moving through the yoga program.

A good place to start is with 20 to 30 minutes of asana practice, and 5 minutes each of pranayama and meditation, at least 3 days a week.

Eventually you might want to work up to my current program, which is:

• Asanas: 30 min./5-6 days per week as yoga stretching as well as stabilization (see below)
• Pranayama: 20-30 min./6 days per week (see below)
• Meditation: 15-20 min./5 days per week, especially after a hard workout or stressful day

I try to fit all three components into my training routine. I choose different sequences of asanas depending on the intensity of my running workout. On easy running days I try to incorporate more advanced and demanding asanas for stabilization and to build up body strength. I mostly place the yoga practice right after an easy run. On intense running days I focus on easy yoga stretching with relaxing asanas as well as breathing and meditation. On these days I run in the morning and practice yoga in the afternoon. Note: Avoid yoga stretching right after a very intense workout—very tight muscle structure and loss of body sensitivity might cause microtears and injury! Give at least 4 to 5 hours rest after intense training before your next stretching program. The asanas I practice are focused on stretching the typical target zones for runners, such as opening up medially rotated shoulders, loosening up tight psoas muscles, tight hips, hamstrings, calves and Achilles—all with the goal to increase flexibility, improve strength and (with chest openers) to enhance the ability of deeper breathing.

Ultimate alignment of the body

The ultimate goals are to enjoy your training, finding the right balance, staying healthy, and achieving the ultimate alignment of the body as well as mind and spirit. Yoga helps you to know your body and be able to communicate with it, and in doing so, the alignment as well as the harmony of the body achieves the best possible flow of energy – similar to acupuncture in which the energy channels are correctly opened up and aligned. The body’s energy is regulated, muscles and ligaments are aligned, as well as stretched and strengthened but in a gentle way. In addition, greater awareness of breath improves mental capacity as well as the ability to deal with your emotions. Breathing more deeply improves the energy supply as well as the capacity to recover. Those latter aspects of yoga have been proven in stress management and daily training. An Indian proverb says: “The length of someone’s life is not measured in years but in how many breaths they take.”