How yoga supports athletes throughout their journey
From supporting young athletes in their development to aiding in injury rehabilitation and post-career health maintenance, yoga provides valuable benefits at every stage of an athlete's journey, says yoga therapist Anuradha Bhide Pandit
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Anuradha Bhide Pandit, a renowned yoga therapist and professor at Kabir Baug Math Sanstha's Sunjeevan Yoga Therapy Centre, shares her insights on the extensive benefits of yoga in the realm of sports. In an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz, Anuradha, who boasts a distinguished background as a gymnast and sportsperson, delves into the various ways yoga can enhance athletic performance and overall well-being
What is the scope of yoga in the field of sports?
Yoga has diverse implementations in the field of sports. Any sport needs mental and physical balance and stability. Yoga facilitates mental and physical coordination in a healthy manner as word yoga originates from root word yuj which means unity that is unity of body, mind, and soul. How will yoga help in dynamism of sports? Physical and mental stability from Asanas and pranayama will alleviate the dynamics of sports. Yoga helps in enhancing performance in sports. Yoga facilitates prevention and maintaining health post sports career. Yoga aids in rehabilitation if suffered from injury and yoga also helps in treating the body if suffering from any pathological and physical deformity through yoga therapy. Today as a gymnast and sportsperson I would like to share my personal experience, my studies, my knowledge, and experience in different perspectives. This knowledge was imprinted on me since my childhood from my guru Acharya Yoganand Dr SV Karandikar but today with maturity and experience I can actually interpret the meaning of it, which I hope will help many in future.
How can yoga facilitate sport?
Sports as a game, as a career, as a competitive activity is initiated from the childhood. Child is in the phase of mental and physical development. Yoga is the base of mental and physical growth. Yoga helps in the development of a child mentally and physically to enhance his/ her performance in sports depending upon the sports one chooses. Every sport has different dynamisms and needs different stance. For instance, athletics is more dynamic sport then shooting. Both the games need fitness and endurance but in different manner. The use of physiology is diverse. Understanding this diverse use of muscular skeletal system in each sport, yoga asanas can help in improving performance. There are diverse yoga asanas which improve stretching, strengthening of the muscles that means increase in endurance level of the person. Good use of muscles will facilitate good use of joints and eventually decrease the probability of injuries.
Can you please elaborate?
Movement in a sport needs particular flow of muscles. Similarly, yoga asanas also focus on the flow of muscles. Example, Parshvakonasana will improve the stance of runners to improve their start in 100 meters sprint race. In 100 meters sprinting a good start determines the speed of the runner. Flow of muscles is similar in that stance. As a gymnast, I was trained under my guru who enhanced my performance. Asanas are performed in stability that means you must hold that asana for some time for the body to get trained to acquire that shape and strength which can be later used in dynamic activities. Stable yoga asanas help to gain and store energy. This needs concentration and complete focus which improves mental stability thus, improving mental and physical coordination. There are numerous asanas mentioned in different texts of Hath Yoga. Every living being has some speciality, asanas are inspired from various species. Through these asanas we try to gain similar kinds of strength and benefits which will give us strength and agility similar to that species (Patanjali Yoga Sutra chapter 2 verse 46). Strength and agility are key factors in any sport.
Yoga helps in rejuvenation; how will it help in sports?
Along with sports practice, a sports person also needs enough rest. Rest means removing fatigueness of muscles, ligaments, and joints. So, they need counter stretches to relax those muscles in action which can be provided through various asanas. Yoga asanas, pranayama and yoga nidra will reduce physical and mental stress and give proper rest thus rejuvenating the body.
You mentioned earlier that yoga is helpful in maintaining health after retiring from sports. How?
When it comes to sports, we only limit our focus until we are playing but there is very little focus post sports scenario of the player. In every sport when we think at the competitive level, one has to train their body at extreme level, way more than normal person. They go through tremendous activity to prepare their body for that particular game which is the requirement of the game. With improving and advancing technologies and availabilities, the level of endurance and difficulty has also gone way high each year.
Example in the sports of gymnastics, if you compare gymnast 10 years back and now, the level of difficulty has increased tremendous and therefore gymnast has to increase their endurance too to match up and achieve those difficult elements. This eventually increases use of muscles, ligaments and joints. This price is paid post sports career where aging is happening and joints, ligaments and muscles start losing their tone. If not taken proper care, it can result in long term difficulty.
To give my example, being a gymnast we had to have strong and elastic ligaments to take weight of our body when we land from height in dismount. Now post sports career, overstretched knees have made my knee joint vulnerable while climbing downstairs or hill. But understanding my sports requirements and dynamism I worked on my body through yoga therapy which does not hinder me in my daily activities. If one practices yoga therapy and yoga after one has left sports will benefit them for long term and prevent deformity or injury in future. Yoga therapy helps in bringing body awareness and alignment thus helping in maintaining health of a sportsperson after leaving the sport from competitive level.
How does yoga work in rehabilitation?
Yoga also helps in rehabilitation. Yoga asanas helps in gaining strength and agility after injury or surgery. Yoga therapy is designed which focuses gaining strength back with minimum fatigueness focusing on circulatory system of our body, along with that pranayama helps in increasing respiratory endurance which improves recovery rate on faster pace. Good respiration and circulatory system enhance the recovery rate of the sports person.
What is the scope of yoga therapy for sportsperson?
Post sports career, due to extreme sports routine, one may experience spine problems, muscle stiffness, joint problems or pain. The body is undergoing continuous degeneration. Before 20 when our sports career is at peak, our body is growing and faces minimum degeneration. So, any pull or muscle strain is perceived at a negligible rate. Little rest and one is fine from that muscle pull or strain. But the repercussions can be seen post sports career when degeneration rate is little faster. These injuries, deformity, joint pain, spine problems can be tackled systematically and scientifically through yoga therapy. Yoga therapy is designed to bring alignment and symmetry back to reduce and remove deformity forever. But it needs patience, consistency, dedication, and devotion to reverse the condition and maintain it.
There are various schools of Yoga. Please throw light on your school of yoga i.e. Sunjeevan yoga therapy?
Yoga is not just asana and stretching, but it is our ancient, widely researched, wisely scripted and scientifically proven activity. It is beneficial diversely if practiced under trained teachers. Sunjeevan yoga therapy is based on modern medicine, anatomy and physiology, ancient yoga philosophy and modern lifestyle. Sunjeevan yoga therapy can be performed by anybody, be it a child, stiff person, old people, injured or diseased person (hath yoga pradipika chapter 1 verse 66). It is easy to perform with maximum use of props. Doing asana is not important but performing asana with ease and getting maximum benefit is crucial.
What is your final message?
To conclude, yoga is beneficial in sports keeping in mind its distinct requirements. Yoga for sports, yoga for maintenance, yoga as treatment and yoga as rehabilitation, there is one winner and many players, but that doesn’t stop children attempting sports. Sport is an enjoyment, determination, satisfaction, devotion and passion. Combining it with yoga will enhance these factors.
