Benefits of Yoga in support of your sport performance.

Yoga is a spiritual and ascetic discipline, a part of which, including breath control, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures. It is widely practiced for health and relaxation. It has deep roots in physiology, anatomy, psychology, astronomy, biology, quantum physics and mechanics!

Professional and general sports are some of our many gifts from the 20^th Century. They had not only become a part of our society, but a way of life and a career for many.  Being an athlete is hard work, because you are always under mental and physical stress, there is always a threat of injury. Then there is the constant pressure to stay in shape and look a certain way for your sport.

Yogis realize that our physical state deeply influences both the mood and mental capacity. By practicing physical postures of yoga, one can attain a peaceful state of mind and in turn achieve greater focus.

Today’s modern athlete considers yoga a staple in his or her training routines.

To practice Yoga is to increase your strength but it’s not a miracle pill and will not happened over night. Ones Yoga practice should be consistent and must be a long term commitment.

These are just some of the benefits gyof adding yoga to your daily life:

• ­­Asana (improve posture)
• Pranayama (enhance breathing technique)
• Meditation (improve mind concentration)

Power, strength and speed are directly related to our proper body mechanics. If one’s body is correctly aligned the physical performance will improve, it also keeps your energy stored until you use it for your chosen sport.

ASANA is the practice of pose.

The practice of Asana will increase blood and nutrient supply to where they are needed most. It will heal our tender or ripped muscle tissue.

Pranayama, to breath deeper.

When practiced properly it significantly increases respiratory capacity; in fact, many have overcome asthma and other respiratory conditions through regular practice. Obviously, this is invaluable to athletes.

Yoga has also been proven to dramatically enhance circulation, digestion, and efficiency of motion.

Alex B. Personal Trainer and Yoga Instructor at MatchPoint NYC