Yoga & Golf

Today in America between 6 and 9 million people practice yoga. Most gyms and health clubs offer yoga classes. Newsweek and popular business magazines write about the booming yoga industry, and celebrities such as Sting and Madonna extol the value of yoga in their music. Given its current popularity - and the inroads it's making into medicine, mental health care, corporate America, and the entertainment community - yoga is poised to be a potent force for personal and social transformation. What is it about yoga that has captured the imagination and spirit of America?

The mere mention of yoga evokes images of physical "poses." But this is only a part of the practice. When you attend a yoga class with a qualified instructor, you experience how intoxicating the practice can be. Through a combination of asanas (poses or postures), breathing techniques, and relaxation, your body opens from the inside out, releasing muscular tension and giving you a new perspective - physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual balance.

Many popular sports are incorporating basic yoga movements into their warm-up routines to prevent injuries, strengthen the core, and deepen concentration, as well as offer tools to maintain calmness during stressful situations. What golfer doesn't want a healthy body and steady mind!

Spend 10 or 15 minutes before you golf to warm up with a few yoga stretches. Your alignment, posture, and stamina for the game will improve. Old neurological patterns of movement that are no longer serving your body will change as you introduce a wider range of shapes for your body to follow. My book "Art of Sequencing" includes numerous examples of yoga practice sequences for the beginner or seasoned yogi. I highly recommend "Shoulder Practice-Level 1" and "Hip Practice-Level 1" as an introduction to asanas that build strength and flexibility where the golfer needs it most.

A yoga teacher and nutritionist, Melina Meza received her Bachelor's Degree in Nutrition from Bastyr University. While attending Bastyr, Melina discovered the art of yoga, which brings together the mind, body, and spirit. Yoga taught her about balance, concentration, and relaxation, essential lessons that reside at the foundation of her own personal practice and the classes that she teaches to groups and individuals.

Melina has been teaching yoga full-time since 1997, when 8 Limbs Yoga Centers opened in Seattle. Her continual growth as a teacher and practitioner has been influenced by studying with numerous yoga instructors and taking annual sabbaticals to deepen her commitment to personal practice.

In addition to teaching private yoga sessions and group classes, Melina is the co-director of the 8 Limbs Teachers' Training Program and Enrichment Program. Throughout the year, she also leads retreats and workshops that allow her to blend her passions of yoga and nutrition education.

Her book, "The Art of Sequencing," the first in a series of practical, affordable, and enjoyable wellness tools, is the next phase of Melina's contribution to those seeking to live more conscious, healthy lives. For more details about Melina and her book, visit www.melinameza.com.