Yoga for Swimmers

Posted on February 10, 2008 in Latest News

Swimming is indeed a graceful skill. Any skill involving body muscles and grace demands a supple body which can move easily. Aspiring athletes, gymnastics performers, dancers all represent the graceful arts. This easy movement of the body is achieved as a natural gift for some, but nature alone does not help. You have to nurture it too. Yoga goes a long way in helping you achieve the fish like grace in moving in water.

Yoga teaches you to relax all of the muscles that are not specifically needed to hold the pose. This helps you to conserve energy by not using all of those unnecessary muscles and put it towards the muscles that need it.

Secondly, breathing is important both for yoga and swimming. Focusing on breathing helps distract the strain on muscles. It also helps me get more oxygen, which in turn helps my struggling muscles. The same thing happens in the water. By picking a breathing pattern, and sticking with it, swimmers can make good use of their lungs, and focus on something other than the strain of the race or practice. With this comes a calmness that helps hold the stroke together longer – and results in improved times.

A yet another important aspect of swimming as it is in yoga is balance. A perfect balance of the boy ultimately results in grace and mastery. In Yoga, balance is important for holding various positions. Similarly, your balance in the water can help you be more streamlined. Balance yourself by consciously pushing or pressing your upper chest into the water. This manoeuvre brings your hips closer to the surface and reduces your frontal resistance. This reduces how much of your body is dragging through the water. You can pull with less effort to go the same speed.

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