Greetings from the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Rest, where I am leading an intensive on teaching yoga to athletes. Yesterday, we talked about progressive overload—the proper application of stress and rest. And fittingly, that's the topic for the latest blog post at Active Yogi at Yoga Journal. Please check it out.

What a wonderful group of yogis practice at Yoga Shelter Grosse Pointe! I had an absolutely wonderful time with all of them. As I promised them, here's a recap of what we did.


I hope these practice notes will help jog your memory. When there are online depictions, I've included a link. Underlined sequences appear in The Athlete's Pocket Guide to Yoga.

Friday Night: Restoration

Child's pose/prone corpse
Lateral child's pose
Cat/cow
Prone twist
Pulsing lunges:
-low lunge
-psoas stretch (back-leg side's arm lifts overhead)
-psoas stretch w/twist (look under raised arm)
Wild camel
Reclining twists: reclining figure 4, half Lord of the Fishes, cow-face, eagle-leg twist in both directions: http://web.mac.com/sagetree/sagetree/Podcast/Entries/2009/9/24_Reclining_Twists.html
Bridge articulations
Corpse

Saturday Morning: Strength and Flexibility 

Supine single-legged warmup
Rolling like a ball
Tall mountain flow
Arrow lunge: Arrow lunges: http://www.yogavibes.com/videos/watch/carrboro-sage-rountree-vignette-1-010810/ and http://blogs.yogajournal.com/activeyogi/2011/05/dynamic-warm-up.html
Planks/core: Static core/alternate with stretches, and table core, both described in detail here: http://sagerountree.com/blog.php?id=1795128332860940338 and illustrated in part here: http://web.mac.com/sagetree/sagetree/Podcast/Entries/2007/7/19_Core_and_More.html and here: http://web.mac.com/sagetree/sagetree/Podcast/Entries/2006/8/11_Quick_Fix.html
Backbends
Inversion
Corpse

Saturday Afternoon: Focus (Yin Yoga)

For more on yin yoga: Paul Grilley and Sarah Powers
Dragon
Sleeping swan
Dragonfly
Wide child's pose/frog
Saddle/sphinx/seal
Shoelace
Twisted roots
Pentacle

Sunday Morning: Core Fun/Wall Fun

Child's pose
Inchworm flow/alternatives to the standard vinyasa: http://sagerountree.com/blog.php?id=6187322280526524089
Core plank series
-swing leg forward/balancing crescent lunge
-swing leg to opposite elbow/ITB stretch or side plank variation
-swing leg to same-side elbow/lizard or tripod twist or quad stretch
Half moon on knee (table core): http://web.mac.com/sagetree/sagetree/Podcast/Entries/2006/8/11_Quick_Fix.html
Wall folds: http://blogs.yogajournal.com/activeyogi/2011/08/multitasking-recovery-for-hips-and-hamstrings.html
Legs up the wall or corpse

In my latest post for Active Yogi at Yoga Journal, I consider mat placement. Where do you set up and why?

My latest post for Active Yogi is on mantra. You probably use it already, whether or not you have thought of it as official.

As the author of a book (The Athlete's Guide to Recovery) and a column (Serious Recovery) on recovery, I take rest seriously and hold my rest days as sacrosanct. But as a coach, I like to try out various approaches to see how they feel. With an open mind, then, I joined my colleagues and readers for the Runner's World run streak (#RWRunStreak), and ran at least a mile every day from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day. Some days I ran exactly one mile, others I ran 22 or more. But I got out there every day, however I felt. (Happily, I wasn't sick or hurt during this period.) Some highlights:

• I knew I was going to run every day. Not going wasn't an option. This was appealing.
• I got to try out different shoes on the short-run days, some of which I'd never wear for a typical hour-long run. A favorite are the Brooks Green Silence, which were perfect for a jaunt around the block with the dog.
• The dog really liked these runs! A mile was just right for her to burn off some energy but not be exhausted (a terrier mix, she has short legs and is decidedly not built for distance). 
• A mile of running would break a light sweat, just enough to make clothes nominally dirty. Reticent to add to our wash load, I found myself heading out in interesting outfits, from preworn workout clothes to street clothes from the hamper. New Year's Day, I wore my pajamas.
• On the first Sunday of the streak, I headed to the middle-school track a block away to knock out a token mile. My daughter Lily came along, planning to run with me. We found the infield was the site of a soccer tournament, and the track and bleachers were full of the families of the players, all Korean. Wearing the minimalist Merrell Gloves, I was determined to do my run on the track anyway, and to Lily's horror, I wove through the crowds, high-fiving the toddlers and drawing confused looks from everyone else.
• One of the best runs was in 38 degrees and pouring rain. I'd have hit the bike trainer if it weren't for the streak, but I went out anyway and really enjoyed feeling tough. (By the end of the day, it was sunny at 60 degrees.)
• A mile run makes a lovely warmup for yoga, weights, or riding the bike. Usually, we run off the bike in triathlon training (though duathletes will run first, too), but starting with the run feels good, especially when the weather is cold out.

Today, I dressed to run and took about a dozen steps before bailing. The bruises from my fall during Saturday's long trail run are really blooming, and I obviously used my right quads to brake my fall. While I shuffled through yesterday's finishing mile without too much pain, the DOMS has set in two days postrun and post-fall, and I was happy to stop my watch, come inside, and hit the yoga mat.

Now it's back to my usual five runs a week, and Sundays will resume their privileged spot as the day of total rest—just in time for the NFL playoffs.

My latest post for Active Yogi is on balancing strength and flexibility in the lower legs. Please click through and check it out at Yoga Journal! I included this video:

My latest post for Active Yogi, my blog at Yoga Journal, investigates the athletic mindset on the mat. Do you see yourself in it?

My latest post for Active Yogi is on using drishti toward dharana. If that doesn't mean much for you, please click on over and let me explain!

My latest piece for Yoga Journal's Active Yogi blog is on injuries you shouldn't "train through" on the mat. Please have a look and capital-L Like it!

If you like to plan your 2012 season way ahead, you might also like to order my newest book, The Runner's Guide to Yoga, which will be out in April. It's now available for preorder on Amazon (you're guaranteed the best price when you preorder). Please check it out! I hope it is a useful guide to runners looking for balance in their bodies. As the subtitle explains, it's "a practical approach to building strength and flexibility for better running." It covers breath exercises, meditation, and yoga philosophy, as well as poses, offering you tools to improve your running and your connection with your body, mind, and spirit.