Mindfulness based yoga therapy for athletes

Why is fascia awareness and mindfulness relevant to athletes?

So many reasons, but here are two of the big ones:

1. A mindfulness-based movement practice is shown to boost executive function more than meditation and aerobic exercise alone. This means that for sports (like hockey) requiring quick anticipation and adaptation to continuously changing situations, athletes will find benefit in incorporating these movements into their training.

2. Introducing fascia oriented training to a yoga practice has shown improvements not only in proprioception but also in somatosensory and sensorimotor function.

So what exactly is fascia oriented training? This is a movement practice that has the specific approach of targeting the fascial system. Rehydration practices, slow and dynamic stretching, and the utilization of elastic recoil are all examples of fascia focused yoga principles. Fascia researcher Robert Schliep says: “Such training should be practised once or twice a week in order to yield in a more resilient fascial body suit within a time frame of 6–24 months.”

All that being said, even if you are not an athlete, you can reap the benefits of including mindfulness-based movement and fascia oriented training to your sport or movement practice. Go ahead and start today!