Yoga for Runners - More Important Than You Think!

Could Warrior I make you a better runner? Photo: judepics/Flickrs

If you're a runner and don't practice yoga, you're really missing out. Sure, you have plenty of reasons for not trying yoga -- it's boring, it doesn't get your heart rate up like running, the poses hurt, it just doesn't do much for you. But you know what? It's actually a perfect complement to your running habit, and New York Yoga is putting on a workshop that will teach you everything you need to know.

Jenny Gammello, the instructor teaching the 12-week Yoga for Runners workshop even made me want to do nothing more than to spend an hour doing yoga followed by an eight-mile run. But here's a big surprise -- Jenny was once one of those people who felt like running and yoga just didn't work! "I quit yoga when I started running because my muscles were so tight that classes were just miserable. Then, I quit running for yoga because I felt like I was destroying everything I'd accomplished in my classes when I went for a run!"

So what changed her mind? "Yoga has actually made me a much better runner," she said. For starters, while running is very one-dimensional (all forward), yoga utilizes your whole body and your entire range of motion. "Yoga helps you find the best, most efficient way to move forward, not to mention the fact that it helps runners be more present and more aware of possible injuries."

Aside from the physical benefits, the mental aspect of yoga can greatly improve your run. "For any athlete, it's important to realize the body and mind are one unit, and our mind is really what limits us," said Gammello. Learning to focus on your breath could just get you through those last few miles.

"Taking a deep breath and refocusing, either on that, or the air against your skin, or the feel of the earth gives you that connection to everything around you and helps you achieve the runner's high," she explained. "Our limiting thoughts are really just fear -- fear that we're too slow, or that we can't finish, and yoga helps you overcome those."

Jenny Gammello, yoga instructor. Photo: New York Yoga

The Yoga for Runners workshop, which begins next Wednesday, July 1, will run every Wednesday through October 28 and is designed to help runners gear up for the New York City Marathon. However, people are welcome to drop in ($30) or sign up for six-week sessions ($150).

One of the major benefits to this workshop is that runners will be practicing with other runners and learning how to best modify poses to work for them. For example, Gammello said that in a lunge, runners should keep their feet about six inches wider than normal to accommodate tight hips. Additionally, bending the back knee (normally the back leg is straight) can help that hip open up, which will allow you to straighten the pose.

Gammello hopes to use this workshop to "give yoga to the runners." It's divided into three sections -- the first four weeks focus on standing poses and strengthening the core, the next four work on maintaining what the body has learned by holding poses longer, while the final four hone in on mediation and restorative yoga and breathing. Before beginning the meditation phase, however, she'll spend a couple of weeks helping her students create diagrams so that they can practice the poses they find most helpful at home.

Gammello realizes not everyone is in New York, and has a couple of suggestions for those who can't make it to her class. "'The Athlete's Guide to Yoga" by Sage Rountree is an amazing reference for any athlete. The author is an endurance runner, and she's an absolute expert on the subject."

She goes on to say that you can create your own running-specific yoga workshop. Start with some Vinyasa or Ashtanga yoga for a few weeks, then find a class with some floorwork in which you hold the poses longer. Then, finish with the restorative yoga.

For more information on Gammello's Yoga for Runner's workshop at New York Yoga, go to the website!