Body and Breath - Yoga Shop Talk

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Yoga shoptalk, November, 2001

Question: In my high school years (1970s) I was a proficient long-distance runner, and I have practiced karate sporadically since the mid-1980s. I’ve never forgotten the joy I experienced from running, however, and would like to get back in that groove. The problem is that I keep developing pains in my feet, ankles, and knees that not only prevent me from running, but that also interfere with my practice of karate. Can hatha yoga help?

Answer: Let’s back up. Those who study these matters make two points. First of all, they say that over a period of four million years we have become the most efficient long-distance runners of all mammals of comparable size, and that those emerging talents enabled us to survive as a species. (From www.refdesk.com search long-distance running evolution anthropology morgan, and read Elaine Morgan’s commentaries.) But second, the experts in anthropology believe that during most of that period we generally lived 20-30 years, or 40 at the most. (From www.refdesk.com search lifespan anthropology ice age longevity.) Therefore, we can hardly be surprised to notice that 50-year-olds such as yourself are pushing the envelope when they do a lot of running. "Wear-and-tear" osteoarthritis is aptly named, and when we thumb our noses at our history, we are likely to get into trouble. But to answer your question, hatha yoga can indeed help you, not only by preventing serious problems from developing, but by sensitizing you to their emergence. Just baby yourself, and go to extremes in watching your limits. Run only on the softest of grassy surfaces, run only for pleasure, and don’t fail to stretch out afterwards with lots of standing poses. As you probably already know, long-distance running shortens the hamstrings and adductors. Not so well known, running also shortens the hip flexors, including the psoas, iliacus, and rectus femoris muscles. So do plenty of forward bends at the hips to stretch the hamstrings and adductors, and balance the forward bending postures with backward bends (keeping the knees straight), which stretch the hip flexors. And most important, entertain two pleasures: first, even though you may not have the body you had in high school, you are a lot smarter when it comes to not hurting yourself, and second, you probably have more ready cash to invest in therapeutic massages and physical therapy. Try it. Get help from experts. Spend, experiment, and enjoy.