practise it from DVDs and learning a little more about it. My own training was also morphing into something much more mindful and holistic (without losing any of the intensity) so I began to feel more open to it. Barefoot running can do that to you! So, I would practise yoga on my ‘lower intensity’ days. Trouble was, the yoga I was doing is known as ‘Vinyasa flow yoga’ or ‘power yoga’ so it was, in fact, pretty high intensity. I reached a point around March/ April of this year where I was pretty exhausted and feeling in the need of…something. One of the facebook members very wisely wrote: “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. This is so true. As it turns out, many of the other group members were at a place in their life where they felt overwhelmed – stressed out at work or over-training in their workouts and injured as a result. I’d fairly recently purchased a Travis Eliot DVD with four, half hour yoga workouts on it and liked his teaching style. I looked online to find out more about him and that’s how I came across this 108 day programme.
I found lots of amazing reviews about it – everyone seemed to have had a positive experience. I decided I would give it a go. I won’t go into all the details of the programme (if you’re interested, you can read my day by day account through my blog) but there are a few things I’d like to share. First of all, I now have a clearer understanding of what yoga is about. The goal of yoga is definitely not any of these:
to push through pain to become really bendy to ‘tone’ your body to only eat pulses to cease caring about your appearance and hygiene to become overly obsessed with your appearance and hygiene
Up until now, I’d been missing the real essence of yoga. I’m not saying that I fully understand the whole philosophy now – that will take a lifetime (and beyond). It teaches you to be ‘in the moment’. Those who worry tend to hold onto the past or panic about the future. Focusing on the ‘now’ is the best way to stay centred. ‘Letting go’ is also something that’s repeatedly encouraged in yoga; letting go of physical tension, but also letting go of other things – negative thoughts, possessions that serve no purpose, letting go of overwhelming concerns about what other people think of you. Letting go of pointless obsessions: “I must have that new pair of shoes“ or “that latest iphone” – why? I came to think of my mat as my safe place. It sounds a little ‘out there’ but whatever life was throwing at me – good or bad – my session on the mat each day was a time for me to take myself away from that. Travis points out that this may seem selfish, but ultimately, if you set aside time for yourself each day, you’ll have more to give the rest of the time. I also know that most of us runners are driven by goals and can tend to view each run as a success or failure. Barefoot running can help change this attitude but yoga can really bring it home. It’s a continuous process of discovery and improvement and you can’t succeed or fail at something that is ongoing. Wow – that mindset certainly
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takes the pressure off. I’m not saying that yoga is anything magic. I’m not entirely sure that everyone would benefit, or at least have their life enhanced by it. I know athletes who are driven and train consistently and relentlessly with not a stretch or chillout session in sight and this has turned out to be the best road for them. The point is to find what combination gives you a balance. For me, the programme wasn’t all plain sailing. In the last phase, some days required me to do an hour’s power yoga, a separate 20 minute core class and 30 minutes of meditation! I’m not saying that’s impossible but it did test my timemanagement skills. I have to admit, I wasn’t fully committed to the food programme (by any stretch of the imagination – my beer buddy will vouch for that) and although I began to get the hang of meditation, my longest session was 16 minutes. I didn’t succumb to feelings of pressure though and I think that was one of the fundamental messages of the programme. Most of us live pretty stressful lives so what’s the point of adding more? Since finishing the programme, I’ve continued my yoga on a daily basis. Not because I have to but because I want to. Running still has the edge for me in terms of pure enjoyment but the yoga has enhanced it. From a purely physical point of view, if I had followed the food programme (no sugar, no alcohol, no stimulants, no fried food, no white flour) I would be in tip top shape. To look at, anyway. I do think the body needs a certain amount of stress to keep it resilient and I believe in testing it sometimes to keep it strong. The odd beer and portion of chips is a good thing! I did wonder if I’d lose strength or fitness, but my breath is more controlled when I run or swim and I have improved overall strength, despite not doing any other resistance training beyond the first couple of weeks of the programme. I think my conclusion is to remain open. Don’t become regimented in your training plan. Don’t think the same combinations will always work – be prepared to make changes and try something new. Definitely try yoga, I’m sure you won’t regret it!
Autumn/Winter 2013
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