Yoga for skiers can be incredibly important for injury prevention and just staying generally balanced in your body. After a full of day skiing – whether you’re taking turns on ice, groomers, moguls, or powder – your body usually has something to say. Drinks at your favorite après bar and a hot tub session might be your first thoughts, but we’ve got two stretches that might leave you feeling as good as your beverage of choice. Let’s break down these two effective yoga poses for skiers that address skiers’ tightest areas and can be done in less than 15 minutes (in yoga pants or ski pants).
Yoga for Skiers: Agnistambhasana Fire Log Pose
Very rarely do strong ski legs come with open hips, and your hips will be the first to tell you when some après ski yoga is needed. Enter Fire Log Pose, or Agnistambhasana in Sanskrit. This yoga pose targets the outer hips, feet, and shins. Begin sitting with both knees bent into the chest and your feet on the mat. Lift your right leg up, externally rotate the leg from the hip and place the right ankle over the top of your left knee. Flex your right toes and ankle to engage evenly from the four corners of the bottom of your foot.
You can use a blanket or block to elevate hips, sitting with one ankle over the opposite knee or lying in "Eye of the Needle Pose" (commonly known as "Figure Four"). Make sure that you flex your right foot the entire time to protect your ankle and align your left knee over your left ankle. Now, if this pose is already making your hips sing, keep your hands on the ground and breathe. If you want to open the hips more deeply, begin to roll on to the outer edge of the left foot. As you externally rotate from the left hip, allow the knee to fall open resting the outer left leg on the mat. It is like an Indian style seated position, but one shin is stacked on top of the other, like fire logs. Your right shin should be stacked on top of your left shin. Bring the right ankle on top of the left knee and the right knee is directly above the left ankle. The shins are parallel with the front edge of the mat.
If you have flexible hips, begin to fold forward, letting your arms come to the mat or rest on a block. Relax, and hold for two minutes before switching sides.
Want a full fire log pose how-to? Watch the free full length video here!
Skiers, yogis, and couch potatoes alike can all fall victim to tight hips, so bust out this pose no matter where your week has taken you – whether you’ve been crushing black diamonds or your desk job (we hope its black diamonds).
Yoga for Skiers: Ardha Hanumanasana Half-Split Pose
For tight hamstrings, try a traditional yoga pose: Ardha Hanumanasana, aka half split. This asana is named after the Hindu monkey god Hanuman, who had the most epically open hamstrings in all the land. (According to ancient myth, he leapt from India to Sri Lanka in a full split.) I can’t promise you that your hamstrings will be open enough to cross borders but I’ll do my best to help you lengthen your muscles after a day on the hill.
I recommend grabbing two blocks for this yoga pose, especially if you’ve been on skis quite a bit. Start on your knees, and then extend your right leg out in front of you. Straighten your knee completely by lifting your kneecap and engaging your quadricep. Remember to flex your right foot and square your hips forward. Not feeling this? Yeah, we didn’t think that would be an issue. You can stay upright in this variation of Ardha Hanumanasana with your hands on blocks for support, or begin to fold forward for a deeper hamstring stretch. Hold for 10 steady breaths and then switch sides.
Want a full split how-to? Watch the FREE online video here.
Remember to thank your tight hamstrings for allowing you to ski pow all day. They are the true unsung heroes.
