Get off your asana

If you’re like me, you’ve got a serious case of cabin fever by this time of year. But as we shake off winter’s slumber, it’s a good idea to make sure our bodies are ready for the increased activity. Every season has its own rhythms, and yoga is a great way to keep your body humming along with them.

Flex time: The author limbers up with a low lunge before a hike at Max Patch. Courtesy Anna Ferguson

If you’re familiar with yoga, you already know that it encompasses much more than just the stretches that have become a popular form of exercise in the West. Many health experts cite its benefits, from calming the nervous system to promoting joint health to enabling a steadier state of mind.

And though it’s easy to think of yoga as something reserved for the gym or studio, it can actually find its way into all aspects of life, including your outdoor adventures.

Catch your breath

Rain or shine, one of the most important aspects of practicing yoga is noticing your breath—its quality, depth, frequency and duration. No matter what kind of activity you choose to do—whether rock climbing, ultrarunning, walking or hiking—this is one of the most elegant ways to observe your body and live fully in the moment.

Each of the following yoga poses (or asanas, as they’re called in Sanskrit), can help tone muscles, mind and spirit for outdoors pursuits. As you perform each of these poses, the challenge is to bring yourself, through the breath, into a union of body, mind and spirit. Sound daunting? As renowned yogi Sri Krishnamacharya observed, “In stages, the impossible becomes possible.”

Like the lunges

One of the best leg stretches around is the low lunge. From a kneeling position, place your hands on the ground in front of you. Bring one leg forward and place the foot on the ground between your hands. (You may want to put a jacket or shirt underneath your back knee for comfort.)

For an even deeper stretch, place your hands on your knee and rise up, using your hands for leverage or contracting your core abdominal muscles until your spine is almost perpendicular to the ground (see photo). Breathing deeply here is always a good idea, especially if your muscles are really feeling tight.

It’s always best to go to your “intelligent edge”—that is, the place where you’re feeling a good amount of stretch but you aren’t maxed out. Then try to breathe energy into those tight areas and ask the muscles to relax. It’s amazing what the body will do when you tell it what you need! Remember to do both legs, and repeat as necessary.

Twist and [no] shout

One of my favorite asanas for relieving back pain due to a big ol’ backpack is the seated twist. There are many variations on this pose, and you can always find a new way to stretch the back’s complex of muscles. CAUTION: If you have back “issues,” it’s particularly important to be mindful and gentle. While sitting cross-legged, inhale and straighten your spine. Imagine that a string attached to your tailbone runs all the way up your spine and out the top of your head. “Pull” on that imaginary string, and visualize the motion as creating space between all of your vertebrae.

Next, inhale deeply, take your left hand and place it on your right knee. Place your right hand on the floor behind you, just behind your right hip. Exhale. Inhale deeply, straighten the spine again and, as you exhale, twist from your navel (not your head!). Find an intelligent placement for your neck, being mindful of the tender muscles in this area as well. Besides bringing fresh life to your back muscles, this twist delivers fresh blood and fluids to your abdominal organs once you unwind, helping the body detoxify. I tell my students that what’s important is not the degree of the twist but your alignment and how you’re breathing in the pose. Take a few deep breaths and enjoy.

Open those hips

For all you bikers out there (whether your ride is fueled by energy bars or gas), the Bound Angle Pose (Baddha Konasana in Sanskrit) is an essential hip opener that helps maintain flexibility. Again, while seated on the ground, bring the legs forward, placing the soles of your feet together in front of you. One of my favorite things to do in this asana is to give myself a good foot rub! This can be a nice way to unwind after a particularly long walk or if you experience circulation problems in cold weather.

Your knees may be way up in the air at this point, and that’s just fine. Place your feet as far away or as close in to your pelvis as is comfortable for you—you’ll get a different stretch depending on the placement of your feet. If you’re a person with particularly open hips (meaning your knees will be pretty close to the ground), use the string imagery mentioned above as you inhale and straighten the spine, and again as you exhale and fold your torso forward. Most likely your muscles will have something significant to say in this position! Remember to breathe in the smell of the grass or the fresh air, and cultivate a feeling of gratitude for your body and the services it does for you every day.

Live in the moment

Perhaps the best yoga for the outdoors is simply this: knowing that this moment in time, this moment right now, is the only one we truly have. In this sense, nature is one of the best yoga teachers. When you take a long backpacking trip or ascend a rock face, nature has a way of putting you fully in that moment, senses tuned to the rustle of the trees or the call of a bird floating on the wind. So get out there, take in the sunshine—and keep breathing!

[Artist, writer and yoga instructor Anna Ferguson lives in Asheville. She can be reached at http://anna.ferguson.googlepages.com]

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

2 thoughts on “Get off your asana

  1. Danny Bernstein

    Hi:
    I enjoyed your article. I take yoga once a week to keep flexible. I cannot get my knees even close to the ground and my yoga teachers say it’s because I hike so much.
    What do you think?

  2. Anna Ferguson, Author

    Hi Danny! I enjoy reading your stuff as well. There are many reasons why your knees may be resistant to lowering to the ground. Mostly I find that it is tight hips that prevent most people from lowering their knees to the ground, but it could also be your bone structure (i.e. how your hip joints fit into your hip sockets) and also the flexibility of your quadriceps and hamstrings. Lower back muscles can also impede the progress of your knees to the ground if they are super tight or injured. I would be happy to help you with your flexibility issues, if you would like to. I could help you develop a program that you could do every day or just before hiking to help keep your hips and legs limber for your favorite hikes. Thanks for writing in!

    Namaste,
    Anna

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.