Recovering from the Olympics? Try Olympic Yoga Workout poses

By Kimberly Fowler

Recovering from two solid weeks of Winter Olympic excitement is no easy thing for many of us. But with the games now over, recover we must—as must the athletes who competed. It’s in the spirit of this collective need for post-Olympic recovery that I recommend a few poses—from my Olympic Yoga Workout!

I know what you’re thinking: “Olympic Yoga Workout—these are going to be hard core!” Actually they’re not. I work with a number of Olympic & professional athletes. They don’t need to sweat or build muscle in yoga—they do plenty of that in their own training. What they need to do is work on flexibility and recovery.

What I often do with such athletes—particularly during competition—is what’s known as Restorative Yoga. As the name suggests, Restorative Yoga poses help the body recover after a hard workout.

I can hear all you Type-A personalities out there now: “Boring.” Instead, how about thinking “relaxing”? Recovery is essential to high performance (Type-A’s take note). As a fellow Type-A, I see restorative yoga much as I see my meditation practice: Though it’s always a war with myself to meditate in the morning, I do it because I know the benefits.

So, for those of you who are competing at a high level—or for those who are merely average, everyday, balls-to-the-wall weekend warriors with tired and aching bodies come Monday morning—following are a few post-Olympics poses. I suggest you add them to the end of your hard training sessions. And remember, restorative poses are great for anyone who’s fatigued, weak or stressed out from daily life, you don’t have to actually be an Olympian. Restorative poses are also useful to practice when you are sick, injured or recovering from childbirth.

Restorative Poses for post-workout recovery:

• Breathe Work—calms your body & nervous system.
• Legs up the Wall Pose—anti-aging pose reverses gravity, relieving stress and blood pooling in the legs
• Easy Spinal Twist—moves the spine in all directions to promote well-being, nice stretch for glutes, core, back and shoulders
• Childs Pose—opens the lower back, opens up breathing, gentle stretch for leg and back muscles
• Corpse Pose—lengthening and relaxing, great for breath work

Restorative Yoga focuses on relaxing the body in restful postures. But note that “rest” is different than sleep. Rest provides the body an oppotunity to renew and heal. Countless studies have proven the physical and emotional benefits of this.

So get going with your Olympic recovery so you’ll be ready for London 2012!