Yoga for diving?

[ScubaGypsy]

I have been maintaining a regular lifting routine 2x per week with a personal trainer as well as swimming 2-4x per week for the past 18 months. I have found that this schedule has allowed me to improve my diving and general lifestyle fitness. Today I tried a new routine and that is yoga. I am rather surprised how sore I am and how involved yoga is with the enhanced stretching and breathing exercises. Have others maintained a regular yoga program and found it to be helpful with their diving and other lifestyle factors? Do others add yoga with other regular routines as weight lifting and swimming? Has yoga helped to improve diving skills such as trim and SAC rates?

 

[Cacia]

my favorite along those lines is Andrew weil MD on Breathing and his discussion about parasympathetic effects.

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&endeca=1&isbn=156455726X&itm=2

 

[ItsBruce]

There are other threads relative to yoga. ... Yes, I do yoga 4 - 5 times a week. Apart from the stretching, which is good, there are some poses which rival or exceed a weight workout. I've found it really helps my diving. I spend 1/2 an hour before a dive practicing my breathing, sometimes with meditation. Before the dive air is "free," so use it to get into the "zone."

 

[stillhope]

I've been practicing yoga and weight training for many years, and it not only helps my diving but in general it helps me stay in shape to do the things I want to do without injury. Since I've had a desk job for the last thirty-odd years, if I let my physical routine slip, I found that I get more soft tissue strain injuries, back injuries, etc. Yoga helps me not only stay fit but helps me know what my limits are.

 

[yoginidiver]

I'm an RYT 500 (registered yoga teacher) and diver and the two go hand and hand - but moreso in the mental realm than the physical one - at least in my experience. True, once you've opened your body to the point you're in full kaptoasana, your shoulders will be free and finding that lost reg behind your head will be a lot easier....but mostly the only "job" you have in yoga is to notice. Be still and notice what's happening in your body. Be still and notice what's happening in your mind. Learn your breath. I mean LEARN it. Know by feeling what's going on in your lungs. Check out "The Yoga of Breath" by Richard Rosen. You'll be tempted to skip over the first few breathwork steps - but don't. Breath is what grounds us - on land or at depth, and I assure you if you can stay connected with it when something goes awry at 80' under (like it did for me yesterday!), you'll have a much, much better chance of keeping a clear head and being safe. Just my .02 about what yoga adds to diving, and most of it isn't physical fitness!

 

[Cacia]

thanks for that.

I would like to know what itsbruce is doing in his practice....

Anybody have a routine? I find choosing the sequence and poses to be interesting.

If you only had 30 minutes...which ones would you choose?

I think I would have to throw sun salutations in there. I think the counterbend and opening of your chest gets underappreciated and pays off nicely with reduced neck problems. Also, i have noticed stretching the hamstrings allows your pelvic girdle to hang at a different angle...no more back pain, often.

I fell off the wagon and need some inspiration to get back on.

 

[dlndavid]

very interesting thread here

 

[Cacia]

yea..no fighting. ommmmmm.

 

[dlndavid]

I need to do some stretching so I my back doesn't go bad

 

[Cacia]

You should try the making your hamstrings "longer" and see if it goes away.