Live, Run, Grow

First of all, thank you so much for all of the great feedback on the first Yoga for Runner’s post.  It definitely made me excited to keep working on this series for the blog and reviewing the poses in detail like this has been a great way to study for my upcoming yoga teacher certification test!  Don’t worry if you missed the first pose, you can see it here!

Today’s poses (yes poses plural, you’re getting 2!) are probably stretches you’re familiar with from way back in elementary school gym class, but it’s important to work through the basics and then build upon them working towards the more complex poses (otherwise you’re pretty much asking to pull a muscle!).

First up is Prasarita Padottanasana or Wide-Stance Forward Bend.

Begin standing with your feet 3-4 feet apart, the taller you are the wider your stance should be (common sense, right?  Oh, speaking of common sense I heard the funniest quote the other day, “Common sense is like deodorant…people who need it don’t use it.”  Ha!  Ok, sorry, now back to the regularly scheduled yoga programming…).

With your hands on your hips extend up through the crown of your head as if someone is pulling you up by a string, begin with a slight back bend opening up your chest.

Begin to fold forward hinging at the hips (keeping your back straight) until your hands come to a rest on the ground.

If you’re hands don’t reach the ground DO NOT PANIC!  That’s why we’re working on it!  You DO want to ground your hands on something though so use a yoga block, chair, stack of phone books (do they even make phone books any more?!?), anything that allows you to rest your hands.

You will feel this stretch in the hamstrings, adductors and gracillis (inner thigh area), hold for for 3-5 breaths and slowly rise up.

NOTE: this is a great pose to do before or after Triangle Forward Bend since the stance is similar, all you need to do is turn your feet!

Next up, Baddha Konasana or Bound Angle Pose.  I’m sure this pose looks familiar to everyone, but it’s a fantastic hip opener and stretches the inner thighs…and I’m going to show you a trick I learned recently to reach other muscles!

Begin seated with your feet together and knees open, elongate up through the crown of the head.  Slowly fold forward until you feel the stretch in your inner thigh (the adductor group).  Don’t over do it – you should feel a stretch, NOT PAIN! (NEVER PAIN, pain is bad in yoga!)

Now, here’s my favorite little trick I just learned.  I always assumed you wanted your feet in as close to you as possible…but try moving them out and see how it feels…

Moving your feet farther away from your body accesses different muscles!  I LOVE a good piriformis stretch!

There you are, poses 2 and 3 of Live, Run, Grow Yoga for Runners!  Up next, my FAVORITE for getting at that runner’s “pain in the butt”, pigeon pose!

**Don’t forget to check out yesterday’s post and enter to win a free RACEDAY Book, the perfect runner’s scrapbook!