5 Yoga Tips for Golf

As autumn approaches and your golf season wraps up it’s a perfect opportunity to cross-train.  Training in more than one discipline will improve fitness and performance, especially in the game of golf.  Practicing yoga and playing golf have many principles in common; they both require fluid movement and flexibility, rotation, focus and concentration, core-strength, and proper breathing.  Read on to learn how practicing yoga can improve your game next spring.

Fluid Movement + Flexibility

The golf swing requires your body and mind to work as a team. This movement demands twisting, rotating, and swinging in one smooth fluid sweep.  A perfect swing requires tightening and lengthening of your muscles at the same time, just in the same way as a yoga posture requires tightening and lengthening simultaneously to achieve balance, strength, and flexibility.   I call this lengthening and strengthening.  By training your body to stretch a muscle while engaging it you’ll have that much more control and range of motion in your swing.

Rotation

The range of motion needed to drive the ball is similar to yoga-twisting postures that require multiple muscles to activate simultaneously. By incorporating poses that work several different muscle groups, and encouraging the trunk of your body to move in this way, you’ll see an increase in your rotational range of motion.  More range of motion equals a stronger swing.   You’ll also be conditioning your muscle memory so that when it’s time to swing in the spring your body will remember the twist intuitively.

Focus + Concentration

When you’re in the present moment and your eyes are focused on the ball your swing will be a success. Yoga teaches us about pratyahara, or sense withdrawal, dharana, or concentration through meditation, and the drishti, or focused gaze.  When practicing these principles in yoga, all other distractions are cleared out and the focus is only on the gaze or focal point. Practicing over time trains the brain to develop focus and concentration on command so that when you’re ready to swing you can drop into that meditative state, focus on your drishti point (the ball), and drive it clear to the hole.

Transverse Abdominal Strength

By strengthening your transverse abdominals you’ll take your golf swing to the next level. These deep muscles are like a corset around your mid-line and are the closest muscles to your organs in the abdomen.  In yoga the technique uddiyana bandha is practiced to strengthen these deep muscles and it means ‘upward fly of the abdominals’.  This upward and inward pull is essential in challenging yoga postures as it supports your lower back and draws the pelvis into correct posture.  Through yoga you’ll have trained these deep muscles to contract and transfer that extra power into your drive.

Breathing

Executing a successful golf swing requires an inner calm and relaxed body. The breath is a vehicle to access and have control over the unconscious nervous system.  When your breathing is steady and controlled the nervous system is calm and function is heightened.  Breathing exercises are practiced in yoga to improve respiration and to control our inner state.  With practice you can use your breath to keep yourself calm and focused during your game.  When the breath is held during your swing it will result in a weak, rigid, unfocused drive.  If you take a deep inhale as you pull back and a strong exhale during your swing you’ll be stronger, smoother, and more explosive in your movements.

 

Contact Annette to set up your private yoga lesson to improve your game

Pain – Friend or Foe?

We all hate pain, but what if we approached pain differently by considering it as an old and knowledgeable friend?  Your body is your oldest companion, the one that knows you best and has been there through all the good times and the bad times.  If we treat our old pal like a sacred temple that we grow up in, then we would honor the messages it sends us. Pain is the messenger that signifies our nervous system that there is a problem.  These problems are energy disturbances and when we ignore messages our body screams even louder trying to get our attention.

So why do we ignore these signals? It’s natural to avoid something that doesn’t feel good. Naturally we follow the path of least resistance and pain is altogether uncomfortable and exhausting.  It’s just easier to not feel than to feel.  However when we ignore these cues and pain is left unattended to, it turns into chronic pain and chronic pain eventually turns into disease.  Dis-ease can be defined as lack of ease in the body or a disturbance in the energy flow.

In yoga this vital energy flow is called Prana and in Asian traditions it’s called Ch’i or Qi.  This life force is described as a flowing river and when rocks and debris get thrown into our river it gets clogged up. These clogs are referred to as energy blocks and energy depletion.  When our energy is blocked or depleted it cannot flow freely to nourish organs, bones, and tissue.  When our body does not get the oxygen and circulation it needs to maintain homeostasis, pain signals are sent out via the nervous system.

So where did the rocks and debris come from?  Body, mind, and spirit are intertwined and connected energetically and with that every single thing that has ever happened to you, positive or negative, shows up somewhere in your body.  If we ignore emotions and feelings and stuff them down in order not to feel, they inevitably fester into deep energetic wounds.

How do we keep our river free flowing?  For starters we need to listen and become aware of what we are experiencing in our body from moment to moment.  Acknowledging both positive and negative feelings brings awareness to energy disturbances before they become chronic.  By addressing the physical feelings we in turn process the emotions and thoughts that are intertwined within.  With awareness, patience, and loving kindness, we have the ability to clear the rocks and debris to maintain our free flowing river.

The next step is to take action on what you notice.  Ask yourself; am I tensing my body? If the answer is yes, then look at where and why you are tensing.  Is it in response to something you’re looking at?  Something you’re listening to?

Once you notice what you’re noticing you are empowered to break old habits and reverse the negative affects.  Self-care is key in this process; yoga, energy healing, a relaxing bath, walking in nature, are all positive self-care techniques to release and reverse the negative affects of stress and tension.

When you’ve changed the old patterns you can start to be proactive by not allowing them to resurface.  Pain signals become an old friend tapping you on the shoulder to remind you it’s time to pay attention.  Eventually you will notice the signal from your nervous system immediately and take proactive action before the pain arises.  Every case is unique and pain levels are varying, however if pain is approached as a friend that is signaling to you that something needs to be addressed you can lessen your pain and give the intelligence of your body the chance to heal on it’s own.

 

Why Private Yoga Lessons are Better for Men

Finding the appropriate practice that is right for you is key in starting an injury-free yoga practice.  One-to-one yoga lessons cater to the unique individual’s body type and provides a safe environment especially for the beginner male student.  In yoga some postures are going to work for some students while other postures will not and a private setting addresses which practice is appropriate for each student.

Traditionally yoga was always passed on from teacher to student in a private and confidential setting.  For example, the guru assigns a set of asanas (yoga postures) and pranayamas (breathing techniques) geared towards an individual’s needs.  The student goes home, practices, and returns for adjustments and more homework.  Just like a doctor prescribes a drug for an illness, the same is true with your yoga instructor prescribing postures specifically for you.

The contrary is true in today’s yoga classes where you’ll find crammed classes with sometimes up to 50 people of all different abilities and demographics.  Generally these group yoga classes have more women attending then men, and the teacher must sequence her class to fit a general population.  There is no such thing as a cookie-cutter yoga practice that fits everyone.  And therefore the newer yoga student is at risk for injury and may be practicing postures that are not appropriate.

This is where it gets tricky for a beginner to navigate and determine which postures are appropriate and which postures are not.  In a group setting it is easy to go beyond one’s limitations resulting in pain and injury.  If you don’t know what you’re doing, and you’re pushed by the group mentality to follow along, you can cause serious damage beyond repair.  Women and men have very different bodies and not all postures are appropriate for men, just as not all postures are appropriate for women.  For most men the deep hip openers that put pressure on the knees are usually the cause for injury.

The anatomical structure of a woman’s pelvis is much more wider and pliable then that of a man’s.  Deep hip openers are extremely beneficial for women but can cause serious injury for men.  The impact of these deeper stretches on the tighter and slimmer male pelvis results in pressurization through the knees.  When the hip joints are not able to comfortably and safely enter the pose the next joint down (the knee) takes the brunt of the pose. Once the knees are traumatized it’s difficult to fully recover.

Private yoga lessons provide the opportunity to address each student as an individual.  By honouring the uniqueness of different bodies one can develop their own personal practice that is suitable for their needs.  In a private yoga setting the instructor can tailor your practice to suit your body safely.

See the difference a private yoga lesson can make and book your introductory session with Annette.

Men's Yoga