I recently wrote a blog for Hugger Mugger about yoga and running. It was fun to write and I wanted to give you a snippet here with the option to check out the full article on their blog.
Yoga and Running
Forever, I’ve heard that yoga and running just don’t mix but I don’t believe that to be true. I’ve had runners tell me that doing yoga hurts their running and yogis tell me that running hurts their yoga.
Personally, I’ve been running and doing yoga most of my life and I understand how both practices complement each other. This article focuses on how yoga can help your running practice and perhaps I’ll write another article about how running helps your yoga practice.
Do you run and practice yoga? I’d love to hear from you about your experiences with both. Leave a comment below or reach out here.
Here is the article.
INTRODUCTION
Growing up, I was never very athletic. I never really enjoyed team sports. I was average at baseball, soccer, and basketball—scrawny and uncoordinated. I didn’t even bother to try out for football.
But early on, I discovered a love for running and have been running most of my life. I found joy in running, not in running the fastest or the longest but rather just in the running itself. For me, the joy comes from the solitude of a long run and from the full-body movement of running, especially when I manage a comfortable and sustainable pace. Running also clears my mind and often even feels spiritual to me. Growing up, I never felt better than during and after a long run, especially a trail run.
That is, until I discovered yoga.
When I started practicing yoga in my early 20s I was excited to discover another activity that wasn’t a competitive sport and also left me feeling as good in body, mind, and spirit the way running did. But when I told my yoga friends that in addition to practicing yoga I also enjoyed running, they’d often raise their eyebrows above their bindi and matter-of-factly inform me that yoga and running just don’t mix. Yet as someone who does both I beg to differ. On the contrary, yoga has improved my running and has kept me running well and largely injury-free for decades.
In many ways running has improved my yoga practice by giving me more stamina, focus, and breath capacity. However, in this article I want to explore some of the many ways that yoga can benefit runners and how incorporating yoga into your training routine can make a significant difference in your enjoyment, performance, and longevity of your running.
THE PHYSICAL BENEFITS OF YOGA FOR RUNNERS
1. BETTER FLEXIBILITY
One of the biggest benefits of yoga for runners is better flexibility. Running primarily involves repetitive movements in a forward direction which almost always leads to tight muscles. Tight muscles contribute to reduced range of motion which means that the tighter a runner’s muscles get, the more effort they have to use to make their body move. Yoga postures stretch and lengthen muscles and help runners enjoy greater flexibility and mobility, a benefit that feels like finally, someone has released the parking brake on your running.