Hey there folks, nice to meet you all. I recently got into yoga because I can feel my right side being much stronger than my left side. I’m guessing this is because I’m an avid golfer. I’m still pretty young, but I’m guessing this asymmetry I’m developing with affect me rather negatively later in my life. So I guess my question is, what sort of yoga should golfers like me be doing to help create equilibrium on both sides of my body?
Hi Dan,
What I fancy about your question is that you’ve clearly communicated in short order the difference between a class of yoga for golfers and a yoga class designed for golfers. Thank you!
We are making life choices everyday - to slouch or sit up erect, to arrange our arms and hands in a certain proximity to the keyboard, to eat nutritiously or not. Each of these choices comes with a result. Some of those choices, including golf, can have long-term effects on our health in a variety of ways.
Ideally one would spend as much time swinging the club lefty as righty. Of course that’s not particularly feasible. And since the imbalance is already in play you would actually have to swing twice as much non-dominant to compensate.
The asana practice one pursues (based on this conversation) should be one that allows for equality. This means the practice always plays to the weaker side. You do not go deeper on one side simply because you can. That fosters imbalance rather than balance. For example if you do trikonasana and open fully with your torso on the right, and the left side is less open, remain working on the left side for 3-9 additional breaths; on the right for 3. Likewise if you need a brick at its greatest height on the left side, do the same on the right side, do not go lower.
In short, get a teacher who understands balancing the body and not just paying it lip service.
I love that you mention that. As a former baseball player who has screwed his body pretty good thanks to it, I always say that if I coached, I would spend the last 10 minutes of every practice having the kids swing and throw with their weak side. I feel it would make all the difference in the world.