Beyond mindfulness
Discover why there’s more to yoga than de-stressing
Use yoga to... ADD MUSCLE
“In the gym we tend to work isolated muscles though pretty linear ranges of motion, which slightly misses a trick,” says Vinyasa yoga teacher and Manduka ambassador Adam Husler (@AdamHusler). “Lay out a supportive yoga mat in your house and through consistent yoga practice, you’ll start to appreciate the benefit of integrating all body parts into particular movements as you naturally begin to build more functional mobility. You’ll develop that sweet balance of flexibility and strength. Over time the injuries will happen less, recovery will be faster and your gym work will begin to have more real-world use.”
Use yoga to... SCULPT A SIX PACK
“Yoga might not specifically target those surface-level muscles that get you washboard abs, but every pose does bring your awareness to ‘the core of the core’ - the muscles that interact with the pelvis, particularly the psoas,” says Husler. “Once you get to grips with activating these muscles in basic poses you’ll start to engage them as you lift or do calisthenics. To feel what I’m talking about, get in a plank position, then touch your right shoulder with your left hand without moving anything but your arm, then your left with your right. Keep alternating and go slow - no fly-swatting. It’s not as easy as it sounds.”
Use yoga to... AVOID INJURY
“Yoga isn’t a stretching class and as you get more experienced, you’ll understand the subtleties of what’s happening to your body,” says Husler. “As that self-awareness increases you can start to apply it to your gym sessions, your sports and your recovery regime. Yoga got me to engage my core more effectively in boxing bouts and helped me survive an ultramarathon. An extra bonus is that there isn’t any winning at yoga – you just have to do something that’s subjectively hard for you and breathe through it. And sometimes you get to just lie on a bolster, with your legs in the air and sneak in a little nap. Just don’t snore.”