Exploring Different Yoga Styles and Benefits for Athletes

Finding a balance between how you feel and what you want.

Photo by Dylan Gillis on Unsplash

Yoga begins and ends with breath. Each style enhances performance of an athletic journey as a recovery tool between intense workouts, improves range of motion and releases tension in the body and mind.

As a runner and yoga junkie, I’ve explored different styles to support my training, recovery, and manage stress. Each one has a specific purpose. The various practices are handy to have in a athlete’s toolbox whether a runner, swimmer, cyclist, hiker, weightlifter or fitness enthusiast. After an intense run, workout or race, yin or restorative might feel best and aid recovery. After an easy workout with low mileage or effort, Hatha yoga might be best to increase mobility with a focus on balance and strength.

As I gear up for marathon training in June, I have been reading Hal Higdon’s book Marathon. Recovery is catching my attention lately and it is mentioned often. Train hard then use recovery tools to avoid injury or burnout.

Many years ago, I had some pain around one knee after increasing mileage too quickly. I was sent to a physical therapist who proceeded to give me a lecture. She said, “you train like an athlete, but you are not treating your body like an athlete with recovery.” I was new to the sport of running, so I was all ears on how to do this. She suggested, regular stretching, massage and yoga. The stretches she gave me included long holds. Five seconds was hardly a stretch, she emphasized. Once I took the advice to add recovery with my miles, I have been injury free 11 years now and still running long distances.

The styles of yoga included:

-Kundalini Yoga for mental toughness.

-Yin Yoga for connective tissues and joint health.

-Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra for repair, rest and heal.

-Hatha Yoga for balance, strength and mobility.

-Somatic Yoga for a deep mind body connection.

Kundalini Yoga

Kundalini is a practice of pushing the limits by long held poses with purposeful breathwork. It’s about training the brain to find comfort in discomfort. Typically, at the beginning of the year, I turn to Kundalini for transitioning into my new goals or challenges that I have set for myself.

Control your breath and in turn, you can control your reactions, energy, and emotions.

My Experience with Kundalini to move past resistance.

I was training for my sixth marathon, this time as a pacer. The assigned pace was within my ability, but I hadn’t run a road marathon in a couple of years. My training pace was solid and on target, but I knew there’d be no room for error on race day. Committing to that pace wasn’t just about me; I felt a deep responsibility to the runners depending on me to help them reach their goals. Many of which were first time marathon runners. In the past, I’d struggled with negative thought patterns causing me to lose the mental fight halfway through and letting my goal slip away.

By chance, I found myself in a Kundalini yoga class during the last ten weeks of marathon training. I didn’t know it then, but it would change everything. The practice, holding challenging poses, using breath of fire, and pushing through resistance, rewired something in my brain. I stopped giving up on training runs. I stuck to the plan. I ran without falling into the trap of long walk breaks.

On race day, that mental shift was everything. When discomfort hit, I didn’t back down. I kept the pace, and I led my group start to finish, right on schedule. It became my best marathon to date, not because of the time, but because I didn’t surrender to the negative self-talk. That victory was special. To stay mentally strong through every mile meant more to me than crossing the finish line. It was a breakthrough moment. I saw what I was truly capable of when I stay present and didn’t quit.

Yin Yoga

Yin is where the body and mind go to heal. Poses are held for several minutes to target the connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, fascia and encourage deep release. Yin balances our active "yang" lifestyle and offers space to turn inward.

There are 3 principles of Yin Yoga:

1-Find your edge (then back off a bit)

2-Be still

3-Hold the pose for time (1-5 minutes typically)

Yin is nourishing, grounding, and essential for athletes who push hard and need to restore just as deeply.

My Story: Yin Yoga for Recovery and Resilience

I turn to Yin yoga for my aching joints and connective tissues, especially as recovery between running workouts and after long runs. Holding poses in stillness, gently finding my edge, has gradually improved my range of motion. Over time, the persistent aches around my joints have eased. When I practice Yin consistently, then I notice a difference in flexibility and mental clarity.

Yin can feel time-consuming, but I crave it even though being still is a challenge. It’s become part of my nightly wind-down routine, especially while watching baseball or other sports. My monkey mind makes morning practice tough, but in the evenings, Yin fits perfectly at the end of the day. Honestly, the hardest part is peeling myself off the sofa and onto the floor. But once I settle into those delicious poses, I can feel the tension melting away.

This makes Yin nourishment for my body and nervous system. If I make recovery a vital part of training, then I’ll be stronger for the next workout. Yin helps me build a stronger, more sustainable athletic journey.

Coming to the mat (or a fuzzy blanket) feels like coming home. I drop inward almost immediately. The practice soothes my joints, calms my mind, and sets me up for a deep, restful sleep. It’s a reset button I didn’t know I needed until I made it part of my routine.

Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra

Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra practices, both offer a deep rest for the body, but the mind is still aware. A few years ago, when I began to study Restorative Yoga, the first things I heard from my teacher was “once you are fully supported only then you can open up.” That hit home to me. Once I am supported then I can soften, open and release.

This recalls how essential support is in training and in life. When you know your family supports your goals, you're free to show up fully. You can train with heart, recover with purpose, and let go of the pressure that holds you back.

Restorative Yoga is a quiet practice. Find the most comfortable position supported with blankets and pillows, then set a timer for twenty minutes. Create quiet, dark, still and warm. Allow the body to open and rest.

Yoga Nidra is a guided practice. This is simply listening to a voice recording that guides your thoughts of sensations and energy movement. My favorite is the body rotation bringing to mind the energy in all parts of the body.

My Story: Restorative Yoga and Yoga Nidra

My practice of Restorative Yoga begins by being conscious of random thoughts that come and go. Then something changes in the last five to ten minutes. At that time, I experienced an escape into nothingness. My body had small sensations as it relaxed and healed.

Subtle changes I noticed off the mat were my reactions to an emotion or trigger. An example is standing in line which normally sets my mind spinning with agitation, now I observe that I must pause, and it is okay.

Yoga Nidra helps me to unwind and release tension in the muscles. One of the benefits of doing RY or Nidra is better sleep at night. Scheduling a rest day is common but tends to be elusive with many other activities such as the yard needs to be mowed, a project needs extra work, errands to run and the list goes on. Rest day can end up being a full day of busyness without a plan. Restorative Yoga on a rest day can provide healing and better recovery in only 20 minutes of quiet time.

Recover better, take a time out.

My favorite position for RY and Nidra pictured below:

Hatha Yoga Flow

Hatha yoga is a flow movement with poses held for 5-10 breaths making it slow, controlled and mellow. My weekly class starts with mobility, next we stand to practice balance poses then take it down to the floor for deep stretches. Hatha once or twice a week improves flexibility and postural strength. Each pose creates effort and ease engaging the whole body. Many benefits for athletes especially those doing repetitive actions in sport. A practice of balance improves coordination and concentration both much needed for the aging athlete.

Hatha yoga uses slow deep relaxing breaths while holding a pose. This can help relax the muscles for a better stretch. A mindful practice of movement and mobility lubricates the joints, stretches muscles and releases tension using the breath.

Somatic Yoga Flow

Somatic to alchemize. This style is great for working through a transition in life or between athletic adventures.

Essentially, somatic yoga is dropping down into the body and moving intuitively. The body has its own intelligence on how to move and what it needs. A practice might look like starting with a familiar yoga pose and then allowing natural movements to guide the energies inside of you.

Emotions are energy and can be released through movements, breathwork or your own voice. The release comes from allowing the emotions to process through and let go of fear to feel. Suppressed emotions create tension in the body and eventually the body will release them. The scary part is that we don’t know what will trigger that kind of release. It can leave us confused and wondering, what just happened.

Make movements found in nature such as waves of the ocean or wind swaying the trees. We are feeling and expressing to heal.

Once the movement is intuitive then it is possible to get out of the thinking brain of what to do next. Free flow without structure as your body moves however it feels at the moment. Once the thinking brain is offline then the nervous system calms down. The body and mind become regulated as one. I have noticed after this type of session that I am less reactive. It is noticeable that I have slowed in thinking or doing and have come into being present.

Endurance athletes and fitness enthusiasts can benefit from various styles of yoga. Certain ones will resonate more with each unique athlete’s fitness and recovery levels. Personal preferences and the practice that gives the best results tend to win out.

Join the conversation:

I would love to see your comments below about your training and recovery methods.

Keep moving forward and shining your light!

Namaste’

Jill