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Mercedes Aspland

London, UK

Yoga Sports Coach™

YSS Graduation Date:  November 2015

I have a strong passion for sport, both watching and playing and am often found boring people with the team I would have picked at the weekend, I guess we all wish we were and Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger! I have always been very keen on fitness and originally came to yoga as a form of strength & conditioning and over the years have seen it replace my traditional training but I am now the finest and strongest I have ever been.

 

 

At the moment, I run 6 days a week regularly clocking up over 30km per week and I now use yoga on myself to ensure my body still works efficiently and I can reduce my risk of injury. These are the same techniques that I apply to any athlete that I work with in order to gain the maximum benefit. My main area of expertise if football but I do also have a passion for a number of other sports and would love the opportunity to broaden my horizons.

 

 

To give you a bit of background about me and my life. I study maths at university and have a masters in that subject. When I left university I went on to work for Merrill Lynch and despite having a successful and promising career I took the decision that I wanted a change in my life and that I would prefer to be self-employed. Since then I have run and worked in a number of successful small business including Dazines a web development company that was sold to a larger company. Training athletes in yoga techniques is something I love and believe I can offer true value to anyone that I work with. If you would like to know more about working with me do not hesitate to get in touch. Below you will find more details about my YSS Case Study completed as part of my training.

 

 

YSS Case Study Research: Football

 

Objectives:  To establish whether a sports specific yoga programme could help a footballer improve their focus and concentration.

 

Subject:  A footballer – aged 18 playing for a non-league club looking to get a professional contract. 

 

Intervention: YSS techniques and approaches were delivered to the athlete in 10 sessions over an 11 week period. The athlete also practised a number of techniques between sessions. 

 

Results:  By providing the athlete with a sport-specific yoga programme, with the main emphasis on focus and concentration along with active relaxation, the athlete showed a significant improvement in his ability to remain focused and to switch off from the stress and pressure he was experiencing. 

 

Conclusion:  After 10 sessions of practising YSS techniques the athlete showed that his focus within the class was significantly improved and he also felt the benefits of active relaxation. The athlete also commented that he was able to maintain this level of focus for other activities shortly after the class. It was clear he was learning to channel this level of concentration and with further practise could take this into training and match situations.

 

As well as a qualification with Yoga Sports Science®, I also have a Yoga Teacher Training qualification through Yoga Alliance UK, a L5 qualification in Nutrition as well as having completed full hypnotherapy training.

 

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