DEFY GRAVITY
Spend some time in the air with Hang Time, an exercise that helps improve balance,
Hang time is the length of time a basketball player stays suspended in the air after jumping. Use this exercise to lighten up your landings and improve your relationship with gravity.
Start in a kneeling position at the back of your yoga mat, sitting on your heels with the inner walls of your legs meeting.
Place your palms on the ground, shoulder distance apart and slightly in front of your kneecaps.
Rooting the hands, lift your hips and hop your shins forward. Try to hang in the air for a brief moment before landing. Be sure to touch down with the tops of your feet before the knees meet the ground.
Hop your way forward until you run out of yoga mat, then try retracing your steps by hopping backwards.
The physics of hang time When an object is lobbed into the air, it will appear to spend a large percentage of the total time in the top part of the throw due to projectile motion. The formula for linear motion with constant acceleration tells us that half the time in the air will be spent in the highest 25 per cent of the arc. Add to this fact the reality that airborne basketball players tend to throw the ball on the way down as they draw their legs up and it can appear that they are exempt from the laws of gravity. YuMee Chung is a recovering lawyer who teaches yoga in Toronto. She is on the faculty of a number of yoga teacher training programs and leads international yoga retreats. Learn more about her at padmani.com.