Marina Traub, who is teaching with us in Bergerac this summer, has strong opinions about the contribution which Yoga can make to a rowers’ training program. Here’s an extract from her latest blog post:

I watch rowing races, and my husband watches rowing races, and we each see totally different details according to our respective lenses. He’s an engineer type, he works for Hudson Boatworks, he loves measurements and gadgets and Rube-Goldberg-esque hardware fixes for problems which (I gotta be honest…) I can’t even usually see. I am a yoga teacher, I’m a body girl, I like patterns and I see mechanics and weaknesses, disconnects in power transfer, potential injury. We are both coaches as well, so we find common ground there.

What was SO obvious to me last weekend, and I mean SO obvious, was how much ROWERS NEED YOGA. I’ve never, y’know, especially wanted to be the ‘face of a movement’ or anything but I will overcome my natural introversion to take up this mantle if it helps my brothers and sisters in this community. Here are my arguments, I’d love to hear your feedback:

1) Yoga postures are not about “how far back can I get my leg?” but rather “where’s the end of the range I can effectively USE my leg, and how can I extend that?”

2) Yoga breath work and mindfulness practices are there to help you regain your ability to regulate yourself when performance conditions (race day or simply morning practice when you were up all night writing a paper) hijack your nervous system.

3) The repetitive stress of what we do to our bodies is undeniable, and a little bit of dedicated time to counterbalanced, neutralizing work will allow us to continue our rowing careers so the body lasts as long as the competitive drive does.

4) A regular yoga practice increases the interoception and proprioception, required to maintain sound technique under variable conditions (water and wind conditions, slide rush, stress level).

You can read Marina’s whole blog post here.

There are vacancies in several of her Bergerac classes between 7th July and 4th August. Use the Contact form and we can tell you the current availability situation.

This is a rare opportunity to be taught by one of the top rowing coaches and Yoga teachers in the USA.