P
eople are always touting the health benefits of yoga. Among other things, it can lower blood pressure, reduce stress, improve posture, relieve chronic pain and build bone strength to prevent osteoporosis. Yoga provides specific benefits for trampers, too. Those tight hamstrings, calves and ankles after a tramp can all be relieved with the right yoga exercises. But it’s not just about stretching and improving flexibility. A number of poses also build strength in a low impact way through slow movement and holding of poses. This allows you to pay attention to aches and pains, avoiding exacerbating current injuries.
Yoga incorporates a fair amount of balance, which can strengthen ankle and knee joints and improve your balance on tricky terrain. Yoga also includes exercises that can help you learn to regulate your breath, making it easier to find a more relaxed breathing pattern when trudging up that 1000m peak. The five poses here offer a mix of strength, balance and stretching ideal for walkers, trampers and mountaineers. Take your shoes off and practise them on the track or in a hut. Every time you practise them, you’ll build a little more strength, balance or flexibility. You can move from one pose to the next in the order shown here or pick just one to work on.