I think I have gone to yoga 7 weeks in a row.

Each week since I have time to kill between work and yoga, I run 2-3 miles around the park.

I have talked my friend into going to some of the yoga classes with me.  The evenings with Cheryl always ends up with this:

and a glass of wine (and sometimes dessert!)

How has yoga helped me?

• I don’t stretch after running.  Yoga for me is an excellent cooldown. (I  always run before the yoga class.)

• Even after months of physical therapy, my screwed together ankle is still stiff.  Yoga has helped a lot (though it still is not as flexible as the other ankle.)

• I have very tight hip flexors.  Some of the poses such as this one really feel good:

• In yoga, we practice diaphragmatic breathing or “belly” breathing (your belly—not your chest—rises and falls as you inhale and exhale). Diaphragmatic breathing allows for deeper, fuller breaths and better oxygen delivery so this type of breathing is supposed to help you during running (it is easy to do when lying down but hard when running).

• I also have to be careful about my achilles having had a strain before.  Many of the yoga poses such as this really stretch out your achilles and hamstrings:

• I also like poses that help strengthen your knees like this one:

• Most importantly, it is very relaxing.  No worries about time, distance, pace…

• I have heard that it is also a good warm-up before running (my pre-run routine is throw on clothes and run out the door…)

I’ll leave you with my favorite yoga pose:

Happy Running! Any other benefits of yoga?