Why yoga and pilates?
Fusion Yoga & Pilates for surfers enables you to nurture and take control of your own body. You can heal your own injuries and build strength, increase your flexibility, boost your endurance and assist your balance.
Plank pose emulates the motion performed from lying on your board to poping up and standing on your board, and cat extension assist to build a powerfully core. By practicing these poses and movements on the ground, you will train and isolate the same muscles utlised out in the water. Building these muscles will incease your core stability, response time and coordination to react to the ocean.
Core stability also can be referred to the thoraic girdle of strength which supports and stabilses the lower back and pelvis also helps to reduce tension in the neck and shoulders.
The muscles enaged while enaging your stability are the: external and internal obliques, the transverse abdominis, multifidus and pelvic floor. The correct way to turn on your core stability is create a full integration of all stabilisation muscles by simply drawing your navel towards your spine while pulling up on the pelvic floor floor. It is essential to maintain this contraction as you breath deep and wide into the depths of your lungs; ultising your full lung capacity. An awareness of contracting the abdominal muscles to the spine while paddling braces the arching of the lumbar spine. Core strength goes beyond the surface muscles and asks us to utilize our deep internal muscles to maintain stability in motion.
Plank pose not only assists to stegthen core stability but it also is considered a arm balance pose which strengthens the arms, wrists, and spine while getting a full body challenge.
PLANK POSE
INSTRUCTIONS
* Starting in Cat Pose, straighten and extend both legs behind you and balance on your hands, toes and upper balls of your feet, so your whole body is parallel to the ground
* Feet should be hip width apart; activate your thigh muscles
* Push through the heels of your feet to deepen the stretch
* Straighten your arms
* Don’t allow your shoulder blades to sink towards your spine
* Create a straight line from your head to your heels
* Continue to draw your navel towards your spine and maintain length in your neck
* Hold and breathe deeply for up to a minute and release into Balasana (Child’s Pose)
SURFING & PHYSICAL BENEFITS
* Builds endurance
* Strengthens and tones the whole body
MENTAL & EMOTIONAL BENEFITS
* Creates a feeling of being grounded with a centered mind
SPIRITUAL BENEFITS
* Promotes a sense of being able to support oneself
* Increases body awareness
CONTRAINDICATIONS
* Shoulder injuries
* Wrist injuries
* If you have hyper-extended elbows, bend them slightly
CAT EXTENSION
Cat extension improves balance, stamina, concentration and core stability. While paddling it is encouraged to be mindful to 2 ‘bandhas’ (energy locks) use in yoga; Uddiyana Bandha (drawing the navel towards the spine) and Mula Bandha (activating and tensing the muscles that stop you from going doing number one’s!). Conscious activation of these 2 muscles tightening, while continuing to breath deep and wide into the lungs ensure a muscle called the tansevrve abdominus, (TA) is activated. When the TA is switched on it creates a corset for the spine, and allows the body to move from a stable core while protecting the back and decreasing chances of lower back strain.
INSTRUCTIONS
* Come onto your hands and knees
* Place your wrists and elbows in a direct line with your shoulders
* Ensure that your hips are in line with your knees and that your feet are in line with your knees
* Look down at the ground, keeping your neck parallel to the ground, and your shoulders down and relaxed
* Inhale to prepare, exhale drawing your navel to your spine to activate your core stability and lift your right arm straight out in front of your body and lift your left leg straight out behind you
* Squeeze your buttocks for extra stability
* Hold and balance for 5-10 breaths
* Slowly release and repeat with the opposite limbs
SURFING & PHYSICAL BENEFITS
* Strengthens core postural muscles
* Develops balance and stamina
* Stretches and lengthens the whole torso
* Tones upper and lower extremities
SPIRITUAL BENEFITS
* Holding one’s own body weight promotes a sense of power and of self reliance
MENTAL & EMOTIONAL BENEFITS
* Increases concentration
* Exercises the mind’s ability to focus
CONTRAINDICATIONS
* If you experience back pain, release into Child’s Pose and rest
