If you are a winter person and love to do winter sports, this is for you!

 

No matter if your passion is skiing, snowboarding, skating, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, yoga will help you get more out of your activities in the winter wonderland. It will strengthen your core and balance, but also your awareness and focus, which will make your experience in the snow unique, every single time.

 

But, let’s start with the breath. The essence of our every movement is the breath. It carries us by giving us strength and a rhythm to every movement. When we are aware of the breath and let it flow evenly, everything gets easier and we can continue our beloved winter sport with endurance. Think about a person doing cross-country skiing, for example. When her breath is flowing rhythmically and every movement is following this rhythm, she is totally focused, one with the breath, even one with the nature around her. The breath is truly carrying her and she is moving in the snow effortlessly. This is a state of flow or even meditation every athlete wants to achieve while practicing. Yoga can help to become more aware of the breath. Listening to the breath is the first thing we do while practicing yoga and every movement on the yoga mat is coordinated with the flow of the breath. Through different pranayama techniques we strengthen the deep, conscious breathing and after a while we notice that this follows us beyond the yoga mat into everything we do. Furthermore, practicing pranayama will increase your lung capacity. This means more oxygen in your blood, which is always good news, even if you are not so much into sports. So, check out the Gotta Joga Pranayama Programs and become aware of your breath.

 

Okay, how about the yoga moves? Do they help a skier on the slope? Yes, they do! Practicing Yoga Asana before and/or after doing winter sports is always a good idea. As already mentioned, asana will strengthen your deep core – and of course other muscles in your body – which will increase your ability to balance in the snow or on the ice, since every movement we make originates from the core. A deep core will also make you more aware of your own body, of its abilities and boundaries, and you will have less injuries while doing your winter sports. Here we recommend The Gotta Joga Core Strength Program for you to start to explore your deep core muscles. Furthermore, through asana we can learn how to stabilise joints, like the knees for example, which are a weak spot for skiers for sure. Plus, Yoga Asana will help you to stretch and lengthen your sore muscles for example after a long snowshoe hike. It is so amazing when the muscles start to release and you know that tomorrow you can continue having fun in the snow without feeling the soreness in your muscles. For stretching try out he Gotta Joga Evening Program. It will make you feel like new born!

We from Gotta Joga wish you a lot of fun with your winter sports in the winter wonderland! See you before and/or after the sports!

Anu Visuri

Yoga Teacher, Munich/Germany

Anusara Inspired * Yogamazé * Yoga Alliance E-RYT 200 and RYT 500

More about Anu and Yoga: www.anuvisuriyoga.com

IG @anuvisuriyoga