#rowingyoga

Watch this space, loves. That hashtag is going to be a thing.

I spent the first weekend in April at the San Diego Crew Classic courtesy of my friends at Shimano Racing Design. I watched racing, collected hugs from a lot of old friends, and generally allowed myself to roll around in the love that is the rowing community.

We talk a lot about ‘lenses’ in yoga. We all see situations through these unconscious frameworks that help us make sense of things. They are productive in that the mind likes systems with which to organize information; they are counterproductive when the things we always see create blind spots for what’s actually there. You know, like the friend who is completely competent and fabulous and yet always makes the same self destructive mistakes at work because they’re misreading a situation, or the partner who throws up roadblocks to healthy relationships because they still see themselves as they were a long time ago, in an unhealthy situation, and they can’t see what’s actually in front of them? That kind of thing.

Back on topic- I watch rowing races, and my husband watches rowing races, and we each see totally different details according to our respective lenses. He’s an engineer type, he works for Hudson Boatworks, he loves measurements and gadgets and Rube-Goldberg-esque hardware fixes for problems I gotta be honest… I cant even usually see. I am a yoga teacher, I’m a body girl, I like patterns and I see mechanics and weaknesses, disconnects in power transfer, potential injury. We are both coaches as well, so we find common ground there.

What was SO obvious to me last weekend, and I mean SO obvious, was how much ROWERS NEED YOGA. I’ve never, y’know, especially wanted to be the ‘face of a movement’ or anything but I will overcome my natural introversion to take up this mantle if it helps my brothers and sisters in this community. Here are my arguments, I’d love to hear your feedback:

1) Yoga postures are not “how far back can I get my leg?” but rather “where’s the end of the range I can effectively USE my leg, and how can I extend that?”

2) Yoga breath work and mindfulness practices are there to help you regain your ability to regulate yourself when performance conditions (race day or simply morning practice when you were up all night writing a paper) hijack your nervous system.

3) The repetitive stress of what we do to our bodies is undeniable, and a little bit of dedicated time to counterbalanced, neutralizing work will allow us to continue our rowing careers so the body lasts as long as the competitive drive does.

4) A regular yoga practice increases interoception and proprioception, required to maintain sound technique under variable conditions (water and wind conditions, slide rush, stress level).

I am REALLY excited to be partnering with folks in the rowing world who feel as strongly about this as I do. I’ll be at Chez Boileau for five weeks this summer teaching yoga at a gorgeous sculling compound on the river Dordogne in Bergerac, France. Link here https://chezboileau.com for dates and info.

If you’re reading this and you’re interested, ask me something, I’d be honored to be a part of your process. Be well, loves. Marina