Yoga Flow Factor

By Amy Wilton

The temperature: 100 degrees. Humidity: 40 percent.

As I breathe in and out in sync with the rest of my hot Vinyasa Flow yoga class, I look at the back of my neighbor as I struggle to keep my balance in Half Moon pose.

I can see every pore on her back exuding a single drop of sweat. The artist in me thinks how beautiful the pattern is and how I’d like to photograph it with a macro lens.

But like a coxswain who notices your head turn during a race, the instructor reminds us to be present. My mind has wandered yet again.

Yoga has become a popular addition recently to many rowing programs, both club and elite, because it can make you stronger, more flexible, and more focused.

A combination of physical, mental and spiritual practices, yoga began in ancient India. Until recently, I (and many others) considered only the physical aspect of yoga. The word yoga, however, comes from the Sanskrit root yuj, which means to yoke or unite, so yoga is actually about connecting your body, mind, and spirit.

Isn’t that exactly what we do every day in the boat? And sometimes, when you take a few flawless strokes in a row, doesn’t it feel like a spiritual experience? Rowing and yoga complement each other perfectly, especially if you live in a place where you can’t row year-round.

I had no idea how life-altering a daily yoga practice could be, especially Vinyasa Flow in a heated studio. I also didn’t realize that the focus required to perform yoga poses is so similar to that required to move a boat through the water with eight people.

At my studio, Portland Power Yoga in Maine, you walk into a room filled with 20 to 70 folks, set up your mat, and chat with your neighbors. As soon as the instructor walks in precisely at start time, everyone quiets down, dials in their focus, and assumes the first position, usually Child’s Pose or Downward Dog.

After that, it’s silent, except for the sound of everyone breathing. In this type of Vinyasa Flow practice, everyone uses an Ujjayi Breath. You breathe in and out with your mouth closed, dragging the air across the back of your throat, pausing at either end at exactly the same time. That’s when the magic begins.

There are many types of yoga, but Vinyasa Flow with the group breath reminds me so much of sitting in a boat with a coxswain. You don’t have to think about anything; you just have to do what the instructors say when they say it, in sync with everyone else.

It’s an incredible feeling to be in a room with up to 70 other people, six inches between each mat, moving and breathing and sweating together. As soon as the first class was over, I wanted to recruit all the teachers to be coxswains for our rowing club.

I wonder how much better I’d be if I’d taken up yoga at the beginning of my rowing career. Over the past year, I’ve learned so much about how to be intentional with the tension in my muscles and how to work my entire body into every move. I have no doubt that the strength and flexibility you gain from yoga translates to speed in the boat.

When you’re so immersed in a challenging and enjoyable activity that time seems to fly by magically, you’re in a state of flow. I’m sure you’ve felt it while rowing or dancing or gardening or doing anything you really love. You begin and, suddenly, it’s two hours later.

On the other hand, have you ever gotten distracted in the boat during a 20-minute steady-state piece thinking about all the laundry piled up in your room or what you’re going to cook for dinner? Yeah, me, too, and everyone else who’s ever picked up an oar.

When random thoughts float into your head while meditating, you’re supposed to “notice them and let them go.” Easier said than done, which is why it’s nice to be reminded by your coxswain or yoga instructor. The more you practice focus, the easier it gets, no matter what activity you’re pursuing.

Maintaining flow requires you to monitor your mind and redirect it when it wanders and to pay attention to the movements of your body. Whether you acquire it from yoga or meditation, you can bring flow into the boat. Releasing extraneous thoughts allows you to tune in better to the task at hand—essential for efficient rowing.

Marina Traub, a yogi and former college rowing coach, is passionate about helping rowers become their best. Her business, Radical Yoga, offers online classes, workshops, retreats, and one-to-one mentoring. She has worked with USRowing’s high-performance group, high schools, universities, and individuals around the world.

She espouses the radical idea—radical certainly for rowers—that it’s OK to fail.

“The good part about being challenged on the yoga mat is actually sitting with your hesitation, your inner voices, and your preferences, because, on the water, we don’t have the luxury of preferences. You’re wasting energy if you’re thinking, ‘I wish there were a tailwind or I wish I was in lane three.’”

By contrast, when you’re asked to hold a yoga pose longer than you normally would, or go deeper into it, you can do so without risk.

“The thing I love about yoga is that I just wanted a place where I couldn’t do anything wrong. I grew up in a very rigid household that emphasized right and wrong, and rowing is a very right/ wrong sport. The minute the oar goes in the water, you know whether it made the perfect sound or you screwed up.

“With yoga, you can sit with your fears and limitations in a nonjudgmental space. You don’t have to rise to anyone else’s expectations, or even your own. Failure is fine.”

Risking failure is easier with the Warrior Two pose than with a split staring you in the face. Psychologically, you can get closer to the edge when you’re not so attached to the results.

When Traub worked with the U.S. national team as they prepared for the 2024 Paris Olympics, rowers appreciated her for creating a “safe space.” Centered on meditative breathing and stretching, her yoga practice was designed not to add to the athletes’ physical load.

“There’s nothing else you need to be and nothing else you need to do,” Traub told them in so many words while they were on their yoga mats.

Result: When the pressure was on during races, they were better equipped to stay calm and concentrate on the contest.

“When I started working with Marina,” said Caryn Davies, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, “I discovered a new level of skill. Before, I was just doing gross movements. Now I’m attuned to fine motor control.”

Have you ever hopped in a boat, rowed your practice, and raced home to get ready for work? I bet stretching was put on the back burner. Unless you row in a college or elite program, squeezing a row in before or after your workday is the norm—and so is forgetting to stretch.

Athletes who incorporate yoga into their routine are generally more limber and agile.

“People say they don’t have time for yoga,” Traub said, “but they don’t have time for the injuries that come from not doing it. Make time on the front end.”

Traub can tell from the way a person stands why their shoulders hurt and that they may be headed for injury. If coaches addressed the achy shoulders of their rowers early in the season with an holistic yoga-based approach, many surgeries could be avoided, and crews would reap the benefit of full lineups.

There are many types of yoga—from the slow-paced and seated Yin yoga to Kundalini, which has a more spiritual vibe, to Vinyasa Flow, my favorite, which is very active and a much more arduous workout than anything else I’ve tried.

Here are some of the best poses for rowers interested in stretching their major muscle groups:

Downward Dog

Begin on your hands and knees (Tabletop position). Tuck your toes, lift your hips, and straighten your legs. Keeping your hands shoulder-width apart and your feet hip-width apart, press your heels toward the ground to lengthen your spine. You’ll notice a stretch in your hamstrings and calves, which also strengthens your shoulders and lengthens your spine.

Pigeon Pose

Begin in Tabletop. Bring your right knee forward and place it behind your right wrist. Extend your left leg straight back and keep your hips squared. Repeat with your left leg.

This pose helps alleviate tightness and enhances flexibility in the hip flexors and groin.

Plank Pose

Begin in Tabletop. Tuck your toes and step back into a pushup position. Engage your abdominal muscles to support your spine and squeeze from your glutes to your toes. Hold as long as you can. As rowers know, core strength is crucial for stabilizing your body during the stroke, and this pose will build it quickly.

Cobra Pose

Lie face down. Place your hands under your shoulders, keeping your elbows close to your body. Inhale as you lift your chest and head off the ground, using your back, not just your arms. This pose increases spinal flexibility, strengthens back and glute muscles, and opens your chest.

Supine Spinal Twist

Lie on your back and draw your right knee to your chest. Gently guide that knee across your body to the left side while keeping your shoulders grounded. Extend your right arm out to the side and turn your head in the same direction. Repeat on the other side. You’ll gain increased spinal flexibility, release tension in your back, and improve your digestion.

“Yoga dovetails perfectly with rowing and is an exceptional complement to any training,” said Stacey Apfelbaum, former Harvard women’s lightweight coach,

Apfelbaum’s athletes practiced yoga two times a week in sessions run by a rower or coach. The payoff: Her rowers were more limber and flexible. They also won the Head of the Charles last year. Coincidence?

If your club hasn’t begun incorporating yoga into its warm-up, speak up and let the coach know you’d like to start. You could also sign up at a local studio, which you can find everywhere.

If doing yoga in public isn’t your thing, there are plenty of YouTube videos to get you started. Try Marina Traub’s Radical Yoga website (www.radicalyoga.com). It features a rower-specific page where she talks about how each pose will help your stroke. She also has an app and a YouTube channel, if those are more your style.

Another great app is Asana Rebel. I used that for a year before I found my yoga home. It combines traditional yoga practices with high-intensity workouts and mindful meditation.

If you remove your ego, success and failure are just pieces of information. Your rowing coach isn’t on the yoga mat with you. Begin with an online video for 10 minutes a week and build your practice from there. When you’ve increased your time on the mat to a half hour or more, you’ll begin to notice how swiftly time passes and that you’re not quite as achy.

Then, whether rowing alone or with others, take that practice of flexibility and flow into the boat. That’s when your coach will notice the work you’ve put in.

Amy Wilton is a professional photographer who lives in Maine, where she rows and coaches at Portland Community Rowing Association.

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