yoga for sports

Last night I joined John Ford on his BBC Radio Bristol sports show to chat about how yoga helps sportspeople with their chosen pursuits. Being a keen sportsman myself, and having previously run Yoga for Cyclists courses in Keynsham, it was a topic I was looking forward to talking about. I was joined in the studio by my boys who have 'previous' at the BBC, not that they can remember the last time they were live on air it was so long ago.

This opportunity arose when I found out that John, who only recently started coming to my Yoga for Men classes, was in fact a radio DJ. By his own admission, John has benefitted from coming to my classes, and thought I would have an interesting story to tell for his listeners.

Yoga for sports people is such a fascinating topic, and the fact that I was given air time shows how much more mainstream it's becoming to hear of amateur to elite athletes practicing yoga. From doing a quick search online you'll find all kinds of household names mentioned - tennis players Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, footballers Ryan Giggs and David Beckham, and US Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles, to name a few.

As much as we chatted about 'celebrity sportseople', we also talked about some of the guys that come to my Yoga for Men classes. When I knew I was going to be on the radio, I asked the guys to let me know of any improvements they've seen in their performance after starting yoga. I was blown away by not only the wide range of sports mentioned, but the positive impact yoga has had, and how they've joined the dots between the two.

the additional speed and stability i've gained from doing yoga has meant I've been able to hit the ball at least 20 yards further when playing golf.

It's not just on the fairways and at the driving range where the guys are seeing improvements. There are instances where one of the guys had almost given up hope of being able to do the sports they enjoy because of injuries, only to 'find their feet' again.

Since starting yoga, i pick up less injuries and bounce back quicker when i do. i can now run half marathons comfortably, and back pain has pretty much disappeared.

It's all too easy to view yoga as being a physical activity, but as I talked about with John, there are so many more layers than that. Developing mental strength to enable a sportsperson to perform at their best is applicable to all athletes, and one of the guys provided a great example of how yoga has helped them as a mountain biking enthusiast.

one day at the bike park, i hit a jump i'd been eyeing for months. before yoga, i would have hesitated, overthought it, maybe bailed mid-air. this time though, i was present, focused, my body felt loose and responsive. i sent it and landed smoothly, like i'd been doing the jump forever.

There were many more brilliant examples shared, some of which I talk about with John. I'm hugely grateful to the guys for taking the time to share their amazing stories with me.

Sharing the stage so to speak with my boys was a real highlight. Granted, they got a bit bored (and hungry!) at times, but they loved the opportunity to spend time in the studio, and to meet John and the team. As we had spent time talking about my partnership I with men's mental health charity Talk Club, and the importance I place on sharing scores out of 10 at my classes, John 'got his own back' by asking us how we were out of 10? I guess you'll have to listen to the end of the recording to find out what scores we shared.

LISTEN HERE TO THE YOGA FOR SPORTS CHAT WITH JOHN ON BBC RADIO BRISTOL