Yoga for Runners *Giveaway*

Happy May Day!  Does anyone still participate in the May Day tradition?
Fill small baskets with flowers or treats and leave on someone's doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away. The person receiving the basket tries to catch the fleeing giver. If they catch the person, a kiss is exchanged.  (My husband usually brings me home flowers and gets "caught" on purpose...)


I started the first day of May with yoga and it felt so good! I don't even remember when I started yoga, but it was years ago.  I don't practice daily.  I wish I did, but I'm the kinda gal who is anxious to "get busy" which usually means a high-paced activity like running or Spinning. So whenever I enter a taper period of training, I resort back to yoga to release my anxious energy.

I love starting the day with yoga

Many people view yoga as a lot of meditating and lounging around... an easy workout.  Let me assure you, it is not!  I sweat.  I usually end up opening the window or turning on the fan because I can't stand sweating while standing still.  (Yeah, hot yoga will never be for me.)  If you haven't added Yoga yet to your cross-training routine, you should seriously consider the benefits it can add to your running.

Yoga offers a great stretch.  After a hard run, lactic acid builds up in your muscles, causing stiffness, pain and soreness. The stretches of yoga release the lactic acid and help ease the tension in muscles and joints - without fatigue and overexertion.  I also like to time yoga before my run. There's a lot of debate on the correlation of running performance and flexibility. In my personal experience, I find the more flexible I am, the better I run.  Misaligned muscles are stiffer and less efficient on the run.

I love how the triangle pose digs into my inner  thigh muscle

Yoga builds strength.  Most yoga poses focus on precise alignment rather than the movement.  By continually striking poses (resembling lunges, squats or pushups) and holding them, you get a full body strength workout without lifting one dumbbell.  Your upper-body will relish in downward/upward dog and plank poses. My arms shake. The standing poses work your hamstrings, quads and glutes.  And when practiced correctly, nearly every single yoga move builds you abdominal muscles.  Believe me, you'll feel the core the next day!  Additional strength in muscles will make your running both stronger and faster.

One of my favorite poses - the side plank

Yoga improves balance, posture and breathing.  Who knew holding one-legged poses can improve your running? If you're anything like me, I tend to trip (and have even fallen a couple times) in running.  By improving your balance through yoga poses, you can more easily recover from these obstacles in the road.  As you practice yoga, your core will without question get stronger, which automatically improves your posture. Stand tall. Run tall. As you open your chest, the passages to your lungs will open as well, allowing for easier breathing. Since yoga normally requires deep mindful breathing techniques, the outcome is an improved lung capacity.  I don't know a single person who doesn't struggle with their breathing while running.

Lastly, yoga has a calming effect. Like many other physical activities, your mind is focused and clear of the daily stresses that ail you.  As you concentrate on the poses (and not falling), the endless mind chatter disappears.  Some research suggest yoga provides a boost in oxytocin hormone, which is associated with feeling of relaxation and connection to others. It certainly leaves me in a better mood and that alone is worth it.

Join me during the month of May in the 30 Day Yoga Challenge, hosted by Run to the Finish.  Even if I can't do a full yoga workout each day (say the morning of my marathon!), I am still vowing to practice yoga for 30 straight days.  Whether it be a couple morning poses to help me focus or an hour long workout to build strength, I look forward to reconnecting with yoga.

In honor of tonight's Biggest Loser finale, I'm giving away 

two (2) yoga DVDs featuring The Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper.

His newest series "Inside Out Method" came out in 2010

My favorite yoga DVD of all time!
From 2008, this program lets you build your own workout.
Sometimes I only have time for Level 1 (20 minutes) and other times I do all 3 levels.

I have experimented with several Yoga DVDs over the years, but I keep coming back to Bob Harper.  I'm not a fan of the yoga instructors who talk in a disturbing quiet and mundane voice. With Bob Harper, you get great instruction and some humor tossed in.  Using Rafflecopter below, you can enter up to 6 times before May 9th.  Tweet once a day for even more entries!  Good Luck!

GIVEAWAY: ABC's of Yoga for Kids!

If you've been following me for a while, you know I'm a big fan of combining yoga into my running schedule.  Yoga is relaxing, relieves stress in muscles (and mind!), and has been a great tool in my recovery from long runs.  While aiding muscle repair, yoga minimizes the soreness and tightness that comes with overworked muscles.  Read more on the benefits of yoga for runners HERE. Great article!

When mommy does something, my little chickies follow suit... Thus Kids Yoga was introduced into our house!  First my gym offered some kids classes that Big Girl attended.  Then the girls received this great children's book last Christmas.... The ABC's of Yoga for Kids by Teresa Anne Power.

The book was an instant hit with the girls.  Walking through the alphabet, kids are introduced to 55 different yoga poses.  Each pose is demonstrated with cute illustrations and a short and fun description in the form of a rhyming vignette.  In short, it's a fantastic interactive book for parents to read and play with their children.  And when mommy is busy, it is simple enough that my two and four year old can flip through the poses by themselves. (Note to mommies: huge entertainment to watch them do the poses!)

Why Yoga for Kids?
Taking the words directly from the author's mouth, yoga benefits children by...

• developing discipline
• helping in the performance of other sport activities
• strengthening both fine and gross motor coordination
• improving visual-motor and auditory processing
• toning internal glands and organs
• aiding cognitive functions of sequencing and memory
• heightening body awareness and self-control
• increasing both flexibility and strength.

Indeed, yoga nourishes the mind, body and spirit, and paves the way for a life-long tradition of health and fitness. Children of all ages and sizes and varying degrees of athletic abilities can practice yoga, a non-competitive form of exercise.

Sorry, the book giveaway is now over.