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When I first tried yoga around 1999, my initial goals was to increase
strength and flexibility, and maybe chill out a little bit. I continued to take
classes for a few years with waning enthusiasm. Some instructors (and the
classes they taught) were more energetic; others were so laid back that the
class felt more like meditation than any kind of exercise. Eventually I got
bored, lost interest and dropped out of the class altogether.
Now I’m back at the yoga studio, more enthusiastic than ever. What
changed? I bought a horse.
I had long known that practicing yoga is an excellent way to increase
fitness, strength and flexibility for riding. My trainer initially suggested I
take up Pilates, and I took classes on a reformer machine for about a year. But
that was a different kind of work-out which, I felt, wasn’t the best fit for me
right now. Scheduling classes was always tough with my and the instructor’s
respective schedules. I also found that the workouts fatigued my muscles as
much as they strengthened them. A few weeks ago, my sister told me about an
introductory offer at my old yoga studio, which was offering unlimited sessions
for one month for a very reasonable price. I decided to join her for one class—she
swore it would be a good abdominal workout—and immediately became hooked. I’m
at the studio at least four days a week and can honestly say I am becoming a
yoga devotee.
In addition to the great stretching workouts yoga offers, just about
every position requires good balance, strength and, of course, regular and deep breathing. Like riding, you
can’t do yoga without breathing. The body just can’t sustain the energy and
strength you need to take and hold the positions unless you breathe. My riding
instructor constantly has to remind me to breathe; now, I have a yoga teacher
telling me the same thing. I know from my hypnotherapy training and practice
that repetition of a behavior is the best way to create new message units and
change an unwanted subconscious mental script. Now I have several different
instructors, including my trainer, reminding and coaching me to inhale and
exhale. I know I’m getting better at this because they are pointing this out
less often.
The other thing I noticed about yoga that is so helpful for my riding is
its emphasis on holding the upper body still while moving the legs or arms into
various positions, such as the Warrior poses (my favorite). Over the years, my
current and previous trainers have reminded me to sit tall and still with the
chest open, head up, hands quiet, breathing, etc., while I applied appropriate
leg and seat aids.
Every time a yoga instructor comes over to help adjust my body position
so I can stretch longer or taller, the equestrian in me is grinning from ear to
ear. My favorite class, Vinyasa
flow, entails transitioning between various yoga poses fairly quickly. I
like this training because it reminds me so much of my dressage training,
transitioning from basic movements such as circles and basic lateral movements
such as leg yield in both directions to shoulders-in and haunches-in, etc. Sometimes
I get confused and sometimes Galahad does, too, when our trainer introduces a
new pattern or combination to add to the repertoire: you want me to do what? For me, the yoga equivalent is
when the instructor stretches and raises her leg to what seems like an
impossible angle and encourages the class to just try a balance pose that I can’t imagine ever being able to do. But
as my flexibility, strength, balance and breathing improve I am able to stretch
that leg a little more and hold the position a second or two longer before
placing the limb back down with control.
Fifteen years ago, I almost
resented being corrected about my position in yoga; now, I practically can’t
wait for the teacher to make a needed adjustment. I am not a professional yogi;
I don’t know what I need to do or how I should look as I practice the various
poses. But I want yoga to work for me to help me be a better, more relaxed and flexible
equestrian. These days, I approach yoga classes as an opportunity to do just
that. I can’t wait to start doing sun salutes with my horse one day!
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified
hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with honors
from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
© 2016
