“There are 15 serious runners amongst the students who come to me for yoga,” says Prashanth C Anand. The 41-year-old techie-turned-yoga-instructor says it took some courage for him to move away from an IT services career, but has not had a moment’s regret since having made that career switch. He is a certified yoga instructor from S-VYASA Yoga University, Bengaluru.
When he began practising regularly, “the physicality, the mindfulness and the connect with cosmos, caught my interest. I found myself through yoga, which taught me to be present in the moment.” It is therefore no surprise, he says, that there are runners amongst his pupils who want the very same thing, especially when they run marathons. “It is a great way to build up their endurance, stamina and fitness and give them the impetus to step out of their comfort zone and enjoy their sport,” says Prashanth.
Why do you think runners, particularly, need yoga?
Yoga brings more benefits than one can imagine for runners. It helps them build strength and flexibility and inculcates in them better breathing and mental balance. There are yoga asanas specifically to strengthen core, quadriceps, hamstrings and hips. These build strength and flexibility in joints, ligaments and connective tissues and the lower body. This enables them to be efficient in running and remain injury-free.
How often should they practise?
Ideally, thrice a week of yoga is beneficial. It helps fight recurring stiffness and keeps the limbs supple even if the runners have had a break of a week or 10 days from running or other exercises.
Are there pre-run warm-up asanas and post-run cool-down ones?
Before their run, it’s imperative that they practise sukshma vyayama or micro exercises to loosen their joints. And then do asanas such as trikonasana , virabhadrasana , janushirshasana , ekapada paschimottanasana. To cool down, post run, and relax their legs and back, runners should do bharadwajasana , vakrasana , balasana and vajrasana .
I also make sure they build their core strength and alignment. For runners especially, the right alignment of the body is very essential. When running, the whole body works hard and having the right alignment is essential to make sure they run at their best without risk of injury.
What role does yoga play in building endurance, stamina, breath control...
Breathing plays a vital role in running, where the demand of oxygen supply is at its highest. Practices such as Pranayama increase the efficiency of the lungs and teach the runners to breathe slowly and completely. This is a key factor for marathon runners and builds endurance in them. Slow, conscious breathing will enable them to remain calm and prevent performance anxiety. Pranayama techniques such as kapalabathi , bhastrika , suryabedana with kumbhaka and nadi shodhana pranayama give them great control over their breathing.
