Yoga For Runners

If you carry injuries or soreness in you tissues, some of the positions can be a little overwhelming at times. To experience a sense of relief, only go into the positions as deeply as you need to, and work on the full range of movement over time. Always follow your breath.

Come to your mat (or just do it on the carpet) and decide what places you need to work on the most. You'll intuitively know them. Couple of poses we're going to explain will help you to ease and recover from already existing pain, some will prevent new injuries. As you work on your flexibility and stability, your body will become stronger and more supple.

Child's Pose

You should begin in the child's pose. Bring your knees to the mat and spread them wide to the outer edges. Your big toes should be touching. Push your hips down to your heels and walk the fingers forward. Tuck your chin, and place your forehead to the mat. Close your eyes, and enjoy this resting posture for several moments. Try to let go all the stress and tension you may have brought to this session. Let your breath become deep, and connect with it. Breathe in and out through the nostrils only, warming the body and preparing the mind for this session. From this pose, you're going up to the downward facing dog.

Downward Dog

Send your hips up in the form of the letter A. Breathe. Creating the alignment and foundation, your palms are flat on the ground, and your fingers are spread wide. You should be pressing your palms forward, and drawing your chest down, allowing your shoulders to roll away from your ears. Keep your hips lifted, and slightly press your heels into the mat. You should be using your breath, with every breath you inhale you are creating the space, and with the exhale — you go deeper to the pose.

Rag Doll

From downward facing dog, walk to the top of your mat for rag doll pose. Feet are hip-width apart. You should be hinging forward to your knees. Each hand is on the opposite bicep. Your head is now near your knees. Tuck your chin deeper into the chest and allow your head to become heavy — and don't worry — even though it feels weird, it's very relaxing for the neck. Breathe here, you don't have to keep your hamstrings straight. Be gentle, feel free to soften the knees and relax. With every inhale, you should be feeling your spine growing longer. Touch the ground with your hands, place all the weight into your heels and slowly roll up to the standing position. Stand tall and strong, feeling the energy running through your body.

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Upward Facing Dog

For the next position, you should lay flat on your belly with your hands on your sides. Upper side of the feet should be pressing into the mat. Press the floor with the hands, and lift the upper part of the body from the mat as far as you find it comfortable. Lift your thighs and allow your hips to surrender. Stay here for five breaths and slowly go back to the floor. Pull your hips up and finish in downward facing dog, again for five breaths. Stand up and relax.

Standing Yoga Poses To Relax The Legs

If you're a runner, you probably know the importance of stretching and relaxing your legs. Start this short standing session in the mountain pose (plain standing pose) and breathe through the nostrils slowly.

Standing Forward Bend

Weight is evenly distributed on both hips and legs. Take a deep breath, and raise your arms up. Keep the back flat and bend forward. Relax the back as you're hinging. At the same time, you should be feeling your legs relaxing. Go back to the standing position, raise the arms to the sky again as you're inhaling, and hinge again towards the knees. Repeat this movement for five breaths while breathing through the nostrils only.

Wide Squat

Bend the knees and get into a wide deep squat. Arms should be extended in front of you as far as possible, and your head relaxed naturally. You should feel the stretch in your hips and lower back. Stay in this position for five breaths as with the other poses, and stand up slowly.

Dancer Pose

Bend over in a 90 degree angle. Lift the right leg behind you by holding the toes with your right hand. Reach with your left arm in front of you to keep the balance. Try keeping your chest open and standing leg straight. Stay in this pose for five slow breaths, and repeat on the other side.

Inside Thigh And Hamstring Stretch

From dancer pose, step forward like you want to make splits, just stay half way towards the split. There should be about 40 centimeters between your feet. Bend forward over the front leg, resting your hands on the hips or — if you're more flexible — on the floor. Breathe deeply for five slow breaths. Do this on the other side too.

Chair Pose

Our last movement will be a little sequence on its own. Stand up and bring your feet together. In this pose, everything comes together — feet, knees, thighs, and even your hands are joined on the chest like for the prayer. Bend forward a little, and go down with the hips like you're about to sit on an invisible chair. Bring the arms up, and relax your shoulders. Make sure that you're breathing, people often concentrate solely on the pose and forget to breathe.

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Bring your hands in front of your chest again. From here, take your left elbow to the right knee for a twist. Look up towards the ceiling and breathe five times. Keep all the weight on the right leg, and step back with the left leg. Try not to lose your balance. Hold this pose for five breaths again. Go back to the chair pose with the hands in the praying position again. Repeat the same process on the other side, meaning this time you lean your right elbow to the left knee, and after few breaths you step back with the right leg. After five breaths, go back to the chair pose, and then stand up slowly.

All these poses relax the muscles in your legs, improve flexibility and balance. You can do this sequence before your running session to warm the muscles up and prevent injuries, and of course after the running — to stretch, relax and recover the muscles, joints and tissues.