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Quest post by Barbara Tofel
Pranayama is an essential component to yoga in athletes because it brings forward the ability to build stamina in sports, helps control breathing in stressful situations or game play, brings balance to the goals in the sport. Being able to control breathing allows or the player to improve his / her game exponentially as control, self-discipline and taking the time to breathe makes for better players.
Yoga breathing teaches players to expand their lung capacity allowing them to run longer, work harder, and center themselves. Balance is a key element to many sports in that players need to find their center mentally and physically in order to improve their game.
By observing their own breathing and seeing how their own breathing changes in different situations they can then learn specific queues that translate into reading other teams breathing to anticipate an opportunity to run a play differently, take advantage of a vulnerability, or gain an opportunity to score a point. With this learning in oneself, their play improves because they can control breathing under stress.
Breathing also focuses the brain and body and opens it up to learning more and seeking to understand more. By doing breathing exercises in athletes, the athlete will then improve focus and be able to continue to develop as a strong player. Players will see they can accomplish so much more by adding in yoga into their regular practice schedule.
Barbara Tofel is one of the participants in the YIMS Kids Yoga Online Teacher Training Course. She works with young athletes at a sports academy and loves to share the benefits of yoga with them.
For more information on Yoga for Athletes visit:
- Yoga for Athletes and Runners {interview w Sage Rountree and Gwen Lawrence}
- Free Yoga Exercises for Dryland Training for Teen Athletes
Photo by Glen Freeman
