Notice to walkers, complete your practice with a few well-chosen postures will allow you to advance further, more easily …
1. Walk longer
At the heart of yoga practice, pranayama ( breathing exercises ) allows you to find a deeper and deeper breathing, learn to breathe through the nose, by filling the belly first, and to further synchronize the movement and the breath. Interesting to gain endurance during the hike and get better oxygen when you’re short of breath on a steep climb. Regular yoga sessions also help recover a normal heart rate faster after exercise.
2. Gain an off-road balance
Many yoga postures help to improve balance and proprioception (you feel better the unevenness of the ground under your feet, your ankles and your knees adapt more easily) while strengthening the muscles of the legs and the center of the body ( abdominals, in particular). The key: more confidence in you, less risk of falling and hurting yourself, even when the terrain is rugged, stony or slippery.
3. To better enjoy his outings
Quit walking to change your mind, as well avoid thinking about his shopping list or the problems that await us when coming home. Mindfulness, which aims to focus on your breath and your feelings, is at the heart of yoga.. Thanks to this practice, you learn to really dive into the present moment, to see, listen, feel what is happening around you … and in you. Incorporating yoga breaks during the ride can amplify the experience: tree posture (arms stretched over the head, clasped hands, one leg bent, sole pressing against the other leg) facing a lake or at the top of a hill to anchor; posture of the mountain (standing, weight of the body well distributed between the two feet, arms in the air) or lying on the back to make contact with the ground and the nature, etc. It’s also an opportunity to realize that just walking can be a form of active meditation!
4. Taming your pains
Walking is good but it can get stuck: lower back pulling, shoulders contracted under the weight of the backpack, knees rusty during descents … To limit or relieve these pain, nothing like improving its flexibility or doing some gentle stretching from yoga , while walking and back home. And by being more aware of your body and its limits, you also learn not to force and know how to get off when it is necessary not to hurt you.
