I have been practicing different types of yoga and meditation in Europe, India and South America since 2000. In 2013 I registered with the Yoga Alliance as Yoga Instructor in the UK and teaching corporate yoga. 

 

Athletes and elite athletes have been regular students and great teachers in my path as a yoga instructor. I have a special admiration for their goal and desire to improve and their willingness to commit to their sport. 

 

I was looking for the best way to help athletes improve their specific athletic performance through yoga. As a Yoga Sports Coach™ I have gained understanding and experience to apply the science of modern day yoga to the science of sports. 

 

 

YSS Case Study Research:  Cross-country cyclists.

 

Aim:  to establish whether a sport-specific yoga program could help a cross-country cyclist improve their core and pelvic stability for more efficient movement

 

Subject: A cross-country cyclist - early thirties, who would like to get back to her peak performance or beyond and started retraining after a caesarean operation.

 

Measures: Measures of core and pelvic stability and reflective data.

 

Results: By providing the athlete with a sport-specific yoga program of which the emphasis was on building core and pelvic stability, the athlete was able to reduce lower back pain as well as discomfort in piriformis and fascia lata that she has suffered after heavy training. The athlete has mentioned that she has reduced visits to the physiotherapist.

 

Conclusion: A nine-week intervention showed that improvement gains had been made within the athlete’s core stability. The athlete commented that learning breathing techniques alone and then integrating that with the movements was a discovery and an important factor to achieve progress. 

 

Research athlete quote: "I have improved my core and flexibility, my lower back was hurting me a lot after my performance training but as soon as I came here doing yoga, I felt release. Definitively I have reduced my physiotherapy sessions.... "