Introduction
Yoga originated in India 5000 years ago and was seen as part of Ancient Indian lifestyle and healthcare. People believed that yoga had many health benefits and practiced its many forms throughout the day. As the world modernised people started to forget the advantages Yoga had and forgot its use in daily life. But now a lot of people around the world have started to remember how important yoga can be. So we thought why not do an article that addresses how yoga can specifically help shooters in their sports.
Benefits of yoga
There are endless benefits that can come from practicing yoga and adopting it into your lifestyle. It can improve your physical, mental and emotional endurance exponentially. As shooters, it is very important for us to understand how important and effective yoga can be to our sport. We will now address the most direct benefits that yoga can have on the quality of your shooting.
Balance
It is very important for shooters of all disciplines that they perfect the art of staying balanced for hours on end. This is true for a Trap shooter who has to hit a moving target and a 10M Air Pistol shooter who has to hit a stationary target. It is not wrong to assume that balancing your every move is at the core of shooting. So it is only natural for all of us to try and do as much as possible to improve and perfect our body balance.
Yoga is a great way to improve your balance by working on your alignment, awareness and strength. By practicing balancing poses like the Tree Pose, the Eagle Pose and/or the Side Plank Pose shooters can start to improve their balance. These poses bring awareness to forces of nature that are constantly working on us, like gravity. And they then help us to adapt and strengthen our muscles which in turn better our alignment.
This is one of the most direct ways in which yoga can improve the quality of a shooter’s shooting. If they are more aware of their body and have worked in bettering their balance then they will be able to replicate this during shooting as well.
Improves mental health
We just talked about how yoga can improve our physical balance. But how can we forget the effects it has on our mental and emotional balance? Yes, yoga can help improve our ability to control our emotions and our ability to handle difficult situations. Inshort it can have a positive effect on our mental health. Yoga can be seen as weightlifting for your brain.
Meditation and breathing practices are very famous forms of yoga and these forms have a great track record in decreasing stress, anxiety and mood swings. There is a part of the brain called the limbic system which is dedicated to the emotions you feel. When one meditates, the activity in the limbic system decreases. Which means that when you are faced with an emotionally challenging situation, like a finals match, you do not react in an extreme manner. This is all because you have trained your limbic system to not go overboard.
So if you take time out to breathe and meditate you will be able to train your brain to stay calm and relaxed no matter what the situation is. This is very important because emotions, stress and anxiety can run very high during pressure situations.
Improves Focus
Now that we talked about how yoga can help relax and calm our emotions we can move onto the next benefit that this can bring. When we have a relaxed mind, we tend to have better concentration. This is because our brain is not over run by emotions and fidgeting thoughts that constantly burden it. The energy that is saved can then be redirected towards focusing on something else.
When you do yoga you focus on yourself and increase your self awareness. Through yoga you can learn to focus on the action you are doing because of the specific movements and positions you have to do during its practice. This definitely works wonders in increasing your attention span and focusing ability. This can be very useful for shooters during practice sessions and matches. What we have the ability to focus without being distracted you can learn faster during practice sessions. You can also tune out the many distractions that can occur during matches if you have the ability zone in and focus.
Do’s & Don’ts
Whenever you start doing something new, it is always important to note a couple of Do’s and Don’ts before starting. Gathering as much knowledge as possible before starting anything new, be it cooking or a new exercise, is very important. It helps us gain confidence and prevents silly mistakes. This is why we have curated a list of things that should be done and a list of things that should be avoided.
Do’s
Let’s begin with the Do’s.
- Since most people do yoga as a form of exercise, it should be noted that before diving straight in, some WARM UP has to be done. This will ensure that your body is ready to fully absorb the benefits of yoga. You can use Isha Upa Yoga practices as your preparatory practices before doing yoga.
Watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf5qUhz-FVk
- Secondly, everyone should start off at the basic level and perform every asana and movement slowly. Performing the movements and asanas in a hurry can lead to injuries. It can also result in incorrect movements that can decrease its effectiveness. So ensure that you take it SLOW AND STEADY. Fast practices like Angmardhana should only be done under an experienced teacher, for beginners.
- Doing yoga on a yoga mat has many benefits that should not be overlooked. It gives you a proper and strong grip and creates a layer of insulation between you and the ground. This layer of insulation can prevent injuries and any unwanted heat & energy loss. In scientific terms it YOGA MATS PROVIDE THERMAL-INSULATION. You can find a suitable Yoga Mat for yourself by clicking here.
- Just like warming up before yoga is important, COOLING DOWN after your yoga session is also important. This step should not be missed because it ensures you reap the full benefit of the exercise.
Don’ts
Don’ts should never be skipped, so here we go.
- Do not perform yoga in a hurry, when exhausted or when you are sick. When you know that you cannot give your 100%, mentally and physically, to your yoga session, it is best to skip it. Doing yoga in a compromised state can result in injuries. Everyone knows what their body can handle and so pushing yourself mentally and physically is not recommended.
- Practicing yoga immediately after meals should be avoided. You should plan your yoga session at least 2 hours after a snack and 4 hours after a meal for practices engaging your core. This will ensure that your digestive rack is not burdened and you do not end up feeling uncomfortable or falling ill.
- Doing yoga without professional guidance can lead to serious injuries. This is why it is best to learn yoga from a licenced professional who can guide you in the correct manner. It is very important to perform every movement in a particular manner to benefit from yoga, and this is only possible when you have proper guidance. Fill this form if you want to get trained from a renowned shooter and Yoga practitioner himself, click here.
Yoga for Shooters
We can end this article with a small list of poses that shooters can do to begin their yoga journey.
Balance Poses
- Vrksasana (Tree Pose)
- Eagle Pose
- Downward-Facing Dog Pose
- Low or High Lunge
- Warrior II Pose
Yoga for Concentration
- Dance Pose Or Natarajasana
- Bhramari Pranayama (Bee Breathing)
- Half Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana)
All of these poses should be done with care and in proper guidance to avoid injuries. Fill the form mentioned above and we will notify you about the upcoming Yoga for Shooters Workshop or click here.
With this we come to the end of this article. If you thought our article was educational and useful do share our article with your friends. If you have any favourite yoga poses then let us know in the comments section below. Until next time shooters.
Keep Aiming High Shooters!