 Combine forces of the mind and body so they are not at odds with one another  Three components: › Pranayama › Asana › Meditation (Gilbert, 1999; Villien, Yu, Barthelemy, & Jammes, 2005)

 Yogic breathing › Central to its ideals and goals  Breathing is a reflection of your emotions › Stress, anger, etc. can lead to shallow, rapid, irregular breathing patterns › Deep, regular breathing patterns can have the reverse effect, relieving stress and/or tension › Healthy babies breathe deeply and effortlessly using the abdomen (Gilbert, 1999; Weinberg & Gould, 2007))

 Root of most sports psychology methods for stress and anxiety reduction › Somatic (physical activation) anxiety reduction  Breath control before and/or during relaxation  Regulate pace and depth of breath to trigger a relaxation response  Often talk about a centering breath (Whythes; Weinberg & Gould, 2007)

 “seat”  Prepare body for rigors of meditation  Increases mental concentration › Focus is on one aspect of the pose and the present  Relax muscles through holding them in stretched position, relaxing muscle tensions (Gilbert, 1999)

 Facilitates better body awareness, including proprioception  Athletes often unconscious of specific movement patterns during sport › Boyce article  Yoga makes movement patterns more conscious (Whythes; Oyao, 2000)

 “Dhayna” is Sanskrit  Yogis’ CNS display tendencies toward parasympathetic dominance › As opposed to sympathetic nervous system › Parasympathetic  Active during resting and digestion  Body in anabolic state, rebuilding damaged cells and tissues (aids in recovery)  Decreased oxygen consumption, metabolic rate, breath rate, cardiac input, and blood lactates › Deep relaxation, increased mind-body coordination, faster reaction time, etc. (Oyao, 2000; Fredrick, 2008; Telles, Nagarathna, Nagendra, & Desiraju, 1993; Weinberg & Gould, 2007)

 Like the relaxation response in Sports Psychology  Savasana › Essentially the same as Autogenic Training  Used to reduce cognitive anxiety  Warmth and heaviness in extremities and abdominal  Regulation of cardiac activity and breathing  Cooling of the forehead—“third eye” chakra (Salmon, Lush, Jablonski, & Sephton, 2009; Naoi & Ostrow, 2008; Weinberg & Gould, 2007)

“There is no way I could have played for as long as I did without yoga... My friends and teammates think I made a deal with the devil. But it was yoga that made my training complete. As preventative medicine, it’s unequalled.” ( Wythes )

 Gilbert, C. (1999). Yoga and breathing. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 3(1),  Jenkins, L. (2004, March 3). Baseball; with help, piazza blends baseball with yoga. New York Times. Retrieved from baseball-with-yoga.html  Naoi, A. & Ostrow, A. (2008). The effects of cognitive and relaxation interventions on injured athletes’ mood and pain during rehabilitation. Athletic Insight, 10(1), Retrieved from  Oyao, D. (2000). Yoga therapy and chiropractic for peak athletic performance. Dynamic Chiropractic, 18(17), Retrieved from  Salmon, P., Lush, E., Jablonski, M., & Sephton, S.E. (2009). Yoga and mindfulness: Clinical aspects of an ancient mind/body practice. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 16,  Telles, S., Nagarathna, R., Nagendra, H.R. & Desiraju, T. (1993). Physiological changes in sports teachers following 3 months of training in yoga. Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, 47 (10),  Villien, F., Yu, M., Pierre, B. & Jammes, Y. (2005). Training to yoga respiration selectively increases respiratory sensation in healthy man. Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology, 145,  Weinberg, R.S., & Gould, D. (2007). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology (4 th ed.). Champaign: Human Kinetics.  Wythes, G. (n.d.). Yoga practice for sporting performance. Retrieved from