The most consequential intention I set last year was to improve my muscle power and strength and increase my existing yoga practice. I had lost muscle mass in India due to the sedentary lifestyle of studying Sanskrit and Vedanta for eight hours a day for ten-plus years. Since back in the USA for 9 years, I have noticed that my efforts to build my health back have paid off.
I brought a more intensive yoga practice back into my life and added weight training at the gym back to strengthen and build bulk in large muscle groups. But when I rediscovered functional strength training, which is more similar to physical therapy, my athletic strength and buoyancy peaked.
Functional strength training builds power and flexibility back into a multitude of muscle groups required for performing ordinary tasks, such as stepping onto a stool and reaching overhead to put a box on a shelf or walking on uneven trails. Our daily tasks are complex, involving coordinated movements on many planes, like balancing while off-center, which engages fine motor control and postural equilibrium.
Whether you have lived 40-plus years with compensation patterns from poor posture or injuries or are a young person who grew up staring at their cell phones and developed forward head posture or back pain, these compensations do not go away on their own. Functional strength training can help correct these dysfunctional patterns.
The value of functional strength training became more apparent when I recently had a foot injury. I learned how to isolate a foot injury and strengthen it for jumping. I had discovered that my injured foot prevented me from jumping in a precarious position from one rock to another at a tide pool at the beach. So, I strengthened those muscles needed for jumping, and the foot was quickly restored. It not only brought jumping back into my life but also aided in the resolution of a hip injury which also stemmed from foot weakness.
Almost everyone lacks functional strength, even people who walk long distances or lift weights at the gym. If functional muscle strength isn’t included in one’s exercise program, whether it involves walking, biking, or weight training, it will remain a missing piece of the health puzzle. It is critical for functional health so that you can do the things you want to do without inhibition or injuring yourself.
My unique approach, as a pain relief specialist in yoga, is to address the micro details of joint health through soft tissue realignment. Such practices always integrate breath and postural awareness. Having studied with world-class teachers, I have gained the benefit of their knowledge and expertise in mind-body health, and hence I bring that to you as my client and student.
The combination of strength training and yoga can lead people to the highest physical health, allowing them to do whatever activities they want, whether to become better athletes or perform the full range of tasks required in life with ease and grace.
Yoga excels at calming the mind and making refined adjustments in body alignment, breath, vital energy, flexibility, and strength.
I am now offering an integrated program of functional strength training and yoga. This new design offers both in-studio or online private sessions in yoga therapy for pain management integrated with functional strength training. Call me to discuss joining this program. I’m excited to work with you on building a healthy and sound body and mind. All to allow the experience of a lifetime. Call or text me at 415-879-6944. Also, visit my website at marinyoga.org.
