Mind Body Connection: How Yoga is Changing the Way Athletes Train

With a background as a high school athlete, the co-owner of Harlem Yoga Studio, Erica Barth, is no stranger to tough training. When she decided to run the 2006 San Francisco marathon with her six best friends from high school, she felt that her training was lacking something. Barth decided to give yoga a try. Yoga was a welcomed contrast to the pavement pounding that comes with running the hills of San Francisco. She now credits starting yoga as the conditioner her body needed to remain injury free during her training. An avid soccer player, Barth continued using yoga as a supplement, even after completing her marathon training. Soccer was hard on her body and yoga helped her to increase both strength and flexibility.  

Barth is one of many endurance athletes who fell in love with the benefits offered in yoga. She believed in it so much that it led her to open Harlem Yoga Studio in 2010. Now a seasoned instructor, she teaches her students to use yoga as a tool to enhance their regular training and as a way to listen to their bodies. 

 Yoga has become a popular cross-training alternative with endurance athletes and elite athletes. In 2016, Yoga Journal and Yoga Alliance conducted the Yoga in America study. The study results showed that there were approximately 36 million yoga practitioners in the United States in 2016. They projected 80 million more people would begin practicing yoga that same year. The study discovered the top reasons for trying yoga to be flexibility, stress relief, and general fitness. It also revealed that many participants are participating in sports like cycling, weightlifting, and running. 

The word Yoga comes from the Sanskrit language and means “to yoke” or “unite.” This definition implies a connection with the Self and with the world around us. When asked what draws athletes to Harlem Yoga Studio, Barth mentions the sense of community that is often found in team environments. It’s no wonder athletes who enjoy team activities are finding solace in the communal practices of yoga. Group classes provide a space athletes to cross train in a supportive group setting. It’s not uncommon for athletes to meet other athletes in training while visiting their local yoga studio. 

“My church is yoga and running.” Says, Vanessa Garcia, a runner living in North Carolina. Garcia has been running races for five years and at one point a few years ago, practiced yoga three times a week. She now attends yoga classes once a week. She reflects on starting yoga years and notes, “It gave me a sense of love, calm, peace, community and practice.” 

Yoga has become a form of exercise that has crossed boundaries into all athletic disciplines. For years before it hit the mainstream, elite dancers and gymnasts have been known to practice yoga. In an interview with the LA Times, American Ballet Theatre soloist, Misty Copeland credits yoga as helping her push through negative thoughts. Founder of Yoga for Dancers, Marja Lankinen, shows professional dancers theraputic uses yoga and meditation. Lankinen teaches yoga for injury prevention, rehabilitation, and elite performance training. As a former cheerleader, marathon runner, and dancer, Lankinen has an in-depth knowledge of athletic performance.  She believes the physical, mental, and spiritual components of yoga provide self-study and self-regulation.  These tools can allow practitioners to move forward in all aspects of life. 

With many popular styles available at local studios and gyms, practitioners can choose from a variety of techniques and levels, according to their preferences. Flexibility increased through most yoga techniques. Vinyasa Flow has become popular in the U.S. over the past ten years. Vinyasa yoga often resonates with athletes who want to keep moving and find it hard to sit still in yoga poses. Hatha and Ashtanga are more classical forms of yoga and often include components of pranayama (breath work), asanas (physical postures), and meditation. Increased strength and bone density are benefits found in Hatha and Ashtanga yoga. In these style the poses are held longer, often using the ground for resistance. Restorative Yoga and Yin yoga are good options for athletes wanting to focus on mindfulness. They are also useful for those recovering from injury, or students interested in the meditative aspects of yoga. Whichever style is chosen, the benefits are both mental and physical. From being more aware of how they are breathing, to harnessing the mind-body connection during long workouts or increasing balance, athletes are using yoga as a way to elevate their performance.

Strength, flexibility, focus, mindfulness, and balance are a few of the benefits mentioned by athletes who practice yoga. A study published in US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, conducted by the International Journal of yoga explains lists health benefits to practicing yoga such as decreased stress levels, pain alleviation, and increased blood flow aiding in cell function. 

Barth echoed the sentiment of many athletes stating that “You are getting a sense of what’s happening in your body… You can get more aware of what’s going on and a sense of when you’re hurting yourself…. It’s important for people to think of yoga as more than a workout.”