There aren’t many mentally challenging and physically alluring activities that are as interchanging as yoga and running. Even if many keen runners or yoga practitioners may disagree, yoga and running have more things in common than other exercises. Some may reckon that the two practices can exude and teach two completely diverse things, but they share many things.
The sheer fact that you move the whole body and every single muscle in it to do a certain yoga position follows the same in running, as every muscle is triggered as you run. Read the following eye-opening article to find out more about other magnificent yoga-running connections.
They both exude your mental strength
The mental power you are able to accumulate through one yoga session is powerful enough to help ease your mind from all the troubles that may be worrying you. Running, believe it or not, can do the same. As you go running, you can free your mind, let loose from all the troubles that have been a burden, and embrace the freedom of your goal.
Both yoga and running enable each individual to utterly slow down and practice stillness and calmness. Even if running might be a more energetic workout than yoga, it is the serene mental imprint that remains firmly engraved, that gives each person the mental power they need to push harder in life.
The synchronized breathing
One of the most essential connections that yoga and running share is breathing. Inhaling oxygen the right way fuels the muscles with endurance and helps prevent cramps. The breathing styles pranayama and vinyasa in yoga demand long, deep and full breath to gain results.
If they were applied in running you would be able to control your pace and run long distances, achieve better performance, and improve your agility. Breathing is like your running gear.
As it is vital to have great running shoes and socks to help your performance and acceleration (click here to learn more and find great running gear), it is just as vital to breathe rhythmically and be synchronized. Thus yoga can help you learn how to breathe adequately when running to improve endurance.
Yoga helps with alignment and keeps you injury-free
Most keen runners have had aches and pains due to lack of right alignment and perhaps agility or due to being inflexible. To stay on the right healthy track, if a runner would practice yoga, they could ease any back, joint, or muscle pain that they might have suffered from. Hence, they would run faster, control the pace, be more agile, and they won’t miss a step as they run or fall off balance in future.
The balance and alignment positions in yoga help ease up any severe pain, but they also teach the runner to be more flexible and stay aligned, firm and steady as they run.
Better stamina and muscle traction
The importance of consistent breathing and getting powerful stamina to endure harsh poses or distances are equally vital in both activities. Therefore, no matter how different yoga and running are from one another, these two things closely bind them.
The yoga poses that meticulously focus on breath, mind and body connections can easily be applied when running which can promote healthy muscle traction. This means that your muscles will be adequately stretched and lightweight giving you the unique opportunity to run more smoothly.
Upscaling the pace and flexibility
If you strive to become a better runner or more flexible with yoga, you might as well tune the two things up. A perfect combination of yoga and running enables you to perfectly tune up your body and muscles. Certain yoga stretches help to promote hip, joint, back and muscle strength like half-monkey pose, horizon lunge or revolved triangle. Flexibility aids both exercises, as long as you do them correctly.
Doing any form of workout is extremely beneficial for your overall health. However, by incorporating yoga and running, you will get a mindful and all-efficient combo that’s hard to beat.
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