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Sage Endurance News
February 2009

Welcome to the newly reformatted Sage Endurance News. I’ve redesigned this newsletter to match my new Web site—you’ll also find it archived there. Please let me know how you like it, and whether you experience any technical difficulties.

Pose of the Month: Group Pose

Since my mother is a photographer, my children are very well represented in pictures. The first picture here was an outtake from a recent trip to my folks’. Our girls aren’t quite AcroYoga material yet, but they have fun, and that’s good. The second picture, taken by the wonderful Don Karle, shows me and my models playing at the photo shoot for the forthcoming Athlete’s Pocket Guide to Yoga.

This month, try hitting the floor with one or more partners and seeing what you come up with. Familiar poses become new again when practiced with a friend. Try triangle or half moon back to back, or feel how your core must engage when you’re balancing a child on your feet in reclining staff pose (see Wes’s face, above left, for an illustration). How does someone else’s proximity affect your balance? (I’m smiling in the headstand picture, but terrified I’ll take out these beautiful people if I fall.)

If you want some inspiration for partner work, watch this amazing video.

Workout of the Month: Group Workout

In January, I faced my fear of looking foolish and began attending masters swim practice. It’s been a wonderful experience. (Read more about it—and see what it’s taught me about yoga—here.) One of the benefits of masters is having other people around doing the same workout. We experience intensity differently in a group setting. That’s probably part of the magic of race day, and I know it’s what keeps my cycling students coming to class every Tuesday and Thursday morning (as much as I’d like to believe it’s exciting to hear my one-thousandth description of the pedal stroke or my three-thousandth exhortation to relax).

This month, see if you can hook up with a group for a structured workout—a Tuesday night track club, a guided trainer class, masters swim. Give the workout an honest effort, and you’ll probably find your abilities enhanced simply by sharing the experience with others.

Teaching News

I had some rare class cancellations in January due to seasonal illness (in fact, this was the first time in my almost five years of this work that I’ve had to take a sick day—yoga and smart training are pretty good for your immune system). You can find out about any last-minute changes by following me on Twitter or checking my online Google calendar. But don’t worry, I plan to stay healthy and to keep my kids healthy for the rest of the winter. Wish me luck!

It’s here: my trip to Kripalu to present a weekend workshop on yoga for athletes! I’ll be there Friday, February 6, through Sunday, February 8, with my trusty assistant Donia and some of you wonderful people. If you aren’t signed up but live within easy distance of Kripalu (it’s in Lenox, Massachusetts, across the street from Tanglewood), it’s not too late to come for the weekend. Another option is joining us on Saturday night from 7:30 to 9 for a sampler class. It will be an all-levels class focusing on relaxing hip openers, great for not just athletes but for anyone who spends time in a desk chair or car seat.

Jivamukti yoga cofounder Sharon Gannon will be at the Carrboro Yoga Company on Monday, February 23. My class that evening is cancelled for the workshop. If you are a CYCo. regular and would like to join me instead at the Wellness Center on Wednesday, February 25, drop me a line—I am happy to share a guest pass with you.

My first webinar (a seminar slideshow presented live via the Web) went so well, USA Cycling has asked for an encore performance. I’ll repeat the presentation on Thursday, March 19, at 8:30 p.m. EST (late on the East Coast so those on the West Coast can attend). I’ll spend an hour talking about how to incorporate yoga in training, explaining what styles work during what point of the training cycle, glossing some poses of particular use to endurance athletes, and answering participants’ questions.

Also on the horizon: a workshop in Cornelius, NC, just up the road from Huntersville, NC, site of the MAP Triathlon (the second race in the North Carolina Triathlon Series). On Saturday, March 28, the day before the race, I’ll present a two-hour workshop on yoga for focus at Urban Bliss from 2–4 p.m. We’ll examine how to relax to facilitate peak performance. Athletes of all levels and in all sports are welcome. If you’re racing on Sunday, you can be assured that we won’t wear you down.

Down the road, join me at the Carrboro Yoga Company on Saturday, April 18, 2–4 p.m., to learn five ten-minute routines perfect for practice after your run. You’ll leave feeling confident about incorporating yoga in your training. The $30 workshop is appropriate for athletes of all levels of sport and yoga experience—you don’t have to be a runner!

More on all of these events at the Workshops page.

Service Ideas

If you live in the RTP area of North Carolina, please check out Triangle Gives Back, a way to connect locals with charities. Sage Endurance athlete Robyn Fehrman (of Tri to End Homelessness) has been deeply involved in its creation.

If you live elsewhere, check out Athletes for a Cure. They are very Web-savvy! Remember how lucky we are to have strength, health, and (at least relative) wealth. Go do some good!