Our recent blog broke down how to spend the rest and recovery time of being out of season, but how about some tips on maintaining your muscle memory and health while away? POWSTER are here to breakdown a few yoga exercises that when added to your daily routine will help with flexibility, recovery and strength building!
We highly recommend that you tailor your yoga plan best suited to your own personal needs, and we encourage daily poses at the end of your day on the slopes which will ensure peak benefits before you sleep. One of the added benefits of embracing yoga is that you only need a mat and a clear state of mind, if you wanted you could even partake slope side!
So we have the best time (evening) and equipment needed (just a mat), so what poses are best? Let’s start with an easy breathing exercise:
Nadi shodhana (alternate nostril breathing)
Alternate-nostril breathing doesn’t just belong to yoga, it's often used in mindfulness and relaxation
methods to help calm the body and the mind. After a long day on the slopes, this can be the perfect way to drop those adrenaline levels before sleep!
As the name suggests, alternate-nostril breathing is the focused practice of breathing through alternate nostrils, one side at a time.
- Bring your right hand up to your nose and move your forefinger and middle finger out of the way. Place your thumb on your right nostril.
- With this nostril covered, close your eyes and exhale fully and slowly through your left nostril.
- Once you’ve exhaled completely, release your right nostril and put your ring finger on the left nostril.
- Breathe in deeply and slowly from the right side. Make sure your breath is smooth and continuous.
- Once you’ve inhaled completely, exhale through your right nostril.
- Release your ring finger and close your right nostril with your thumb again. Breathe in fully and exhale fully from your left nostril.
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Repeat the full process two or more times.
Cat Cow Pose (Marjaryasana/Bitilasana)
This pose is perfect to help you create a better sense of balance and posture, increases your coordination, helps stretch key muscles as well as helping to calm the mind. All key requirements for skiers and snowboarders! Now over to your instructions:
- Bring your hands beneath your shoulders and knees beneath your hips.
- Inhale as you drop your belly button toward the earth and lift your heart and hips to the sky into Bitilasana (Cow Pose).
- Spread across your shoulders and sitting bones.
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Exhale as you round your upper back toward the sky, dropping your gaze to your navel and pressing your hands and feet into the earth in Marjaryasana (Cat Pose).
Yogi Squat
Built to help stretch and open up your hips and lower back, perfect after a day hitting the snow! This exercise will help reduce that next day stiffness helping reducing next day strains that invariably happen during a long season or holiday mountaintop!
1) Begin on feet, crouched down with tailbone between ankles and hands in prayer at chest.
2) Continue to press hands firmly together while at the same time pressing elbows against inner thighs.
3) Hold and breathe for 30 seconds.
We hope that these 3 simple exercises help you when your next skiing or snowboarding, but if we’ve missed off one of your favorites please let us know!
