On my quest for all things to do with running and Yoga, two great things fell into my lap.

1st.
The new book by Sage Rountree titled The RUNNER'S Guide to Yoga suddenly was in front of me and so it was only moments before I released it from it's shrink wrap (yes... not so nice packaging! yikes!).  I have gone from front to back.  I will properly review this later with all of it's pro's and con's.  But I will simply state she has grown as a yogi and book writer since her other book, "The Athlete's Guide to Yoga".  Lots of great running specific poses, tips to becoming a better runner, not just in the physical training but in the mental capacity and the balance of training and life.

2nd.
Lululemon must have heard me calling. That and well all of their running races are happening across North America!  But let us pretend that they were weighing in on my needs too!  They have come up with a simple blog post providing 5 quick poses to practice before beginning your run to help limber you up for those 10 kilometres and help balance and strengthen your muscles to prevent injury.

Go and visit Lululemon's blog here and try these before your next run and see how it changes the way you move!

Book Review - The Athlete's Guide to Yoga

The Athlete's Guide to Yoga was the first book I bought for myself to help deepen my yoga practice.  I constantly would hear of programs like yoga for climbers and yoga for surfers, not being either at the time I always felt a little left out. I hiked, I paddled and most of all I biked, but those sports and yoga were not known to be synonymous.  This book is perfect for everyone else that don't get that set guide to complement yoga to your sport.

One thing to remember is that this book is written and designed by a a woman is a triathlete, I would take this book as a round practice guide that is more of an introduction to yoga than a strong and experienced yogi who doesn't necessarily feel the need for a book to guide them through their practice.  Near the end of the book their is a list of activities that help determine the best kind of the practice to complement your activity, there is a very detailed description for runners and triathletes but there is a sections for "active persons" which gives an example of activity and style of yoga for each day of the week.

The book has a fairly extensive introduction which covers everything to the basics of yoga including the 8 limbs, giving a short description outlining each limb, a list of what type of props one might want to have, and even what to expect at a studio and what each style of yoga offers.
Then the majority of the book gives descriptions of different asanas one might want to practice to improve their stability, strength and agility.  This includes pictures, different variations and even some what not to do photos.  This part of the book is broken into opening and warm-ups, balance, standing, sun salutations and flow, shoulders, backbends and chest openers, core, floor work, twists and inversions, relaxation and closing poses.

The final two sections of the book include some other aspects that one can incorporate in their training including meditation, breathing exercises and even some mantras.  My favourite part of the book is the final chapter which has different routines, although they are usually short and not fluid, it helps for the person who might be new to yoga or at least new to home practice and wants to design their own practice.

Also included with the book is a 15 minute dvd which has a practice on it. I have never used the DVD so I can not comment on it.

I would give this book an 8 out of 10.

Enjoy