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Yoga and Tennis (or any sport
actually)
How to Increase the LIFE in your game, while playing the GAME of your
life.
Debra Bobier, CYT, RYT (Join us on our
Magical Yoga in Bali Retreat in June.)
Tennis is not an easy game on the body. Let’s face it; your body
takes a beating each time you are on the court. Tennis requires
great speed and endurance along with short bursts of power and quick
reflexes. At some point every player experiences an issue with
injury prone joints like knees, ankles, shoulders, hips and wrists.
Yoga can keep your body supple and flexible, the key to longevity,
help minimize injuries, correct those you already have, and take
your game up a notch as well.
The Physical Aspect of Yoga:
It is also a common practice for most tennis players, amateurs and
professionals alike, to play the game with their muscles constantly
tense. Yoga is the opposite. Muscles are trained to relax which
allows for much faster reaction time, and less likelihood of injury.
This power versus force approach has many players saying “I’ve never
played better. And I can really get my body behind the ball,
especially with my serve”.
In a game that is always throwing your body physically out of
balance, the physical benefits of yoga are not just a luxury but a
necessity. Most tennis players can’t imagine a life without tennis,
and want to continue playing for as long as they can. Yoga makes
this possible by providing increased strength, stamina, balance and
flexibility making you less prone to injury. You might not think
that flexibility matters much but it is one of the most important
things in Tennis. Look at all the twists and turns. Stops and
starts. And, spinal arch while serving.
Each posture in yoga is designed to recalibrate, balance, harmonize,
rejuvenate and restore our muscles, joints and cells. As well as to
remove the tension that is deeply embedded in these areas. So Yoga
is extremely therapeutic. Whether you are able to do the most
advanced postures is inconsequential. You do what you can and your
practice is as personal and unique as the person doing it.
You become so much stronger, and powerful. I work with a lot of
triathletes that are in excellent condition. Yet after just one week
of working with me each day, they are stronger, more powerful, more
toned and flexible. And have increased focus, and concentration.
Each Yoga movement is done slowly and with the breath so one might
wonder how you could achieve these benefits. The postures are
intense, and moving slowly is actually making you stronger so that
when you are off the mat, you can move faster. And of course you are
stronger and more powerful. Incorporating Yoga into any fitness
program is a win-win. And while yoga will enhance any other fitness
program you are involved in, nothing will enhance your yoga practice
except your yoga practice. It’s that different.
Many yoga postures are not easy. In fact some are quite difficult,
and many very intense. I recommend attending a yoga class regularly
with a teacher that teaches Yang (masculine)Yoga or a more dynamic
form like vinyasa flow, Ashtanga or Power Yoga.
If you are in the Tampa Bay area and I am available, I would love to
work with you. Or, any group you may be organizing for a tennis
weekend retreat. You could also take advantage of my week long
retreat in Magical Bali in June. This one week will change your
body, mind, and spirit. Then you can spend your next week traveling
around the island enjoying its magic and beautiful spirit of the
Balinese people. Get all the details
here.
Asana standing, seated and lying on the back are usually part of the
class, with emphasis on Pranayama. Moving through the Asana with
Breath is Moving Meditation.
Some Yoga Postures That Are Good For Tennis:
Tree pose (vrksasana) to strengthen the legs, open the hips and
improve balance and coordination.
Triangle pose (trikonasana) to strengthen and stretch the
hamstrings, open the chest and promote balance.
Warrior I and II (virabhadrasana I, II) to strengthen quads, calves
and Achilles’ tendons; expand range of motion; and teach you to move
from the hips
Spinal twist pose (ardha matsyendransana) to limber hips and
shoulder joints and tone and stretch the lumbar spine.
Courtside Yogis:
Warrior ## to develop strength and knee joint; lengthen the
Achilles’ tendons, calves, and spinal column; and firm the abdomen.
Bridge pose (setu bandha) to develop a supple back and torso.
Handstand (adho mukha vrksana) to build mental and physical focus
and agility.
The Mental Aspects of Yoga:
But Yoga isn’t just about power, or strokes, speed, or finesse. It
is a place we play from where we feel no pressure. When we are
playing in the Zone we can do no wrong. We know where the ball is
going and we are already there. Each shot is solid, smooth and well
placed. We are focused and at one with the ball, not distracted by
anything or anyone, especially our own mental chatter. This is a
place of pure “Bliss” and in the Yoga world we call this “Living in
the Moment”.
This is accomplished through our Asana (postures) as well as
Pranayama (breath work) practice. Pranayama, or breath control is
the most important aspect of any Yoga Practice. Incorporating slow,
deep rhythmic breathing relaxes the body and mind enabling us to
ground, center, focus and stay in the present moment.
It assists in silencing the inner chatter that can end up costing us
the game. Research has shown that the discipline required for Yoga
can take you to a state of Meditation. It releases endorphins, calms
the mind, lowers blood pressure, and slows the nervous system. This
is the place you want to be when you walk on, and off the court.
There are many types of Pranayama but one technique is to simply
exhale while executing a pose. Many instructors are now
incorporating focus-building drills into their teachings like
looking at the strings of your racket and focusing internally while
using yoga breathing. Doing this while playing means more efficient
and effective play as you are exerting less effort.
People are not aware of their breath and don’t realize that they
breath with only 25% of their lung capacity. When we are stressed,
the breath is the first thing to go. Becoming more aware of our
breath is one of the most important things we can do. This greatly
increases your strength, endurance and stamina by expanding lung
capacity and facilitating controlled breathing.
The centering and stillness of the mind that is created through your
Yoga Practice also retrains the brain to think in terms of the here
and now not winning the point, what the other team is doing, where
they are, what is going to happen next. By focusing on where you are
not where you want to be you can stay in control of the mental game
of Tennis.
The physical and mental benefits of yoga come with practice. A daily
practice would be the ideal and offer quicker and greater benefits.
And you don’t need to allocate hours and hours to your practice.
The bottom line:
Yoga is attracting people from all walks of life especially those in
highly stressful environments. Many of these people have a hard time
sitting, standing and staying still. This is a liability of our
North American work ethic which has immersed us in multi tasking,
high speed, and a fanatical pursuit for success.
The mind and body are vibrating with the reverberating echoes of the
day’s battles. TV, Radio, Cars, Traffic, etc. add to the crescendo
so that silence and stillness scares the hell out of people. The
unfamiliar environs of a yoga class where constraining suits are
replaced by comfortable threads and the mantra to surrender instead
of fighting, power versus force are common instructions, these
people have found themselves destabilized by the lack of white
noise, or more importantly, by the presence of undiluted silence.
The process of stripping away society’s conditioning has often
proved to be too great a feat for some, resulting in the
identification of yoga as ‘too freaky’, ‘too quietly’, or most
laughably, ‘too easy’. There now exists a movement of millions
attempting to relate to life’s most basic principles, and in that
same effort to relate comes the realization that we rarely end up
where we originally envisioned ourselves…and so, the quest begins…to
come back to ourselves…and to be our selves.
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