Staying Injury Free Through Yoga

This weekend I realised how much my yoga practice benefits and complements the other sports that I do.

Although I have recently moved back to London I still wanted to keep a link to my local Cotswold tennis club - where I have been playing for the past year and incidentally where I first picked up a racquet and learned to play as a child. This weekend I spent a lot of time at the club playing with fellow members.

On Saturday morning I played a ladies double match at another club which lasted around three hours (I played fours set and it finished in a draw). On Sunday I had arranged to play a box league (round robin) singles match - best of two sets - against a player I had never met who turned out to be a 6ft plus man (I'm 5'3"). I wasn't daunted by this and we had a very competitive match which I managed to win in a very close tie-break.

Less than 24 hours later I was back again on court - this time to play another box league match. A lady this time and whilst it took me a little while to get into my flow I managed to win that one too. I was thrilled with my weekend!

However, I'm now in my 50s and I do put my body through quite a lot on the tennis court. I tend to run around a lot and I don't like losing so I am constantly lunging, rotating, twisting and generally putting pressure on my joints. Having given myself this personal tennis challenge over the weekend I was worried that I might pick up an injury or feel stiff or weary afterwards but thankfully this was not the case. I felt fine.

I teach yoga classes (currently via Zoom) at least five days a week and will do my own practice or flow on days when I am not teaching. I believe that it is this regular practice which involves, stretching, balancing, strength work and flexibility that allows my body to function so well and prevents stiffness and injuries.

I discovered yoga classes whilst at the gym and it was seeing how well this practice complemented my fitness routine that enabled my passion for yoga to grow. I was inspired to take a teacher training course because I loved the classes I attended and wanted to learn more about the anatomy and philosophy of yoga and the different asanas. Despite taking me out of my comfort zone I started to teach my own classes and start my own yoga business so that I could pass on this knowledge to others and encourage my friends, family, and anyone else to start including some yoga in their day to day life.

The benefits of yoga are many but it is not meant to be competitive - just listening to your body and doing what feels right for you. Sometimes, I feel like doing some arm balances or handstands is just want I need to do at that moment, but on other days lying down in Savasana (corpse pose) is all that I require.

So, I encourage you to give yoga a go, see the benefits for yourself. You might inspire others to take it up and maybe we will all be playing tennis into our old age!