All runners can benefit from practicing Yoga; these articles are written with minimalist runners in mind-specifically, those who run barefoot. Runners who are considering ditching their shoes will find Yoga can help with the transition and with keeping conditioned after making the change. Those who already have will find Yoga’s benefits are just as significant as they ply the course sans shoes. So why not adopt an exercise that lets you be barefoot off the course as well as on it? No matter what your skill level in Yoga or running, these short sets will be a convenient compliment to established routines and new programs alike.

This is part I of a four-part series of articles about Yoga for runners. In all four articles of the series, we’ll focus on the same four goals:

• Stretching to prevent injury
• Lengthening muscles for more complete, effective muscle building
• Building strength for barefoot running
• Creating good running mobility that respects the body’s natural construction

Stretching to prevent injury is a principle that’s applicable to  any sport, but even more important for the minimalist runner.  When you run, you are lengthening and contracting your muscles. Contracting the muscles ultimately leads to making them shorter. If they become too short, they can get torn when they are lengthened during exercise, no matter how strong they are.      

Lengthening the muscles means using stretches to keep them longer when they are relaxed as well as when they are in, which not only reduces injury risk but also makes a bigger area of muscle that can be built and developed. Rather than confining muscle build up to a bulge in one small area, the entire, lengthened muscle can be developed. A larger area of muscle means more ability to absorb impact during exercise, which protects joints, tendons and ligaments, as well as more muscle area in which we can build strength.

Increasing strength is something specifically needed for barefoot running. Running barefoot or in minimalist shoes involves muscles that are hardly used when wearing regular running shoes. More motion in the feet and legs with minimalist running calls for more counter tension to be provided by the muscles as they spring back with each stride, even if there is no change in stride length after the shoes are off.  

And once the barefoot runner moves past the beginner stage, s/he starts to use those previously dormant muscles far more intensely. So we need to be aware of how those muscles move, and build those muscles thoughtfully, with respect to our own body’s unique construction and natural range of motion. When we take this approach we’ll become aware of our bodily limitations and also of our evident potential for success that our bodies were naturally built for, and that’s our fourth goal.

So let’s look at three basic Yoga postures (also know as “asanas”) which will help us meet our goals. 

• Sitting Forward Bend
• King Pigeon Pose
•  Warrior Stance

NOTE: For comfort and safety Yoga should be practiced on a stable, level surface that is not slippery. When indoors, a Yoga mat is recommended. As always, consult a medical professional before beginning any exercise program. 

The first is a sitting forward bend (Pascimottanasana). You probably do this one already as part of your pre-run stretches, but let’s look at it from a Yogic perspective. Sit with your legs together and outstretched, with your torso perpendicular to the ground. Your legs should be straight, but keep your knee joints very soft and never locked. Each time you inhale, bend your body forward a little bit. Let your stomach be relaxed and keep your spine as straight as possible. We’re not trying to aim our heads over our knees. Rather, we are trying to bring our relaxed stomachs over the tops of our thighs. This exercise will give an intense stretch of the hamstrings, so be gentle, listen to your body, and don’t push too far if you feel pain. Work to edge of limitation slowly and steadily, being very aware of how you feel. Work into your fullest expression of the posture and hold for three relaxed breaths. 

Our second posture is the King Pigeon (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana). It will help strengthen and lengthen your thighs so they can be the shock absorber you’ll need as barefoot running increases leg motion. Kneel on the floor; then extend the right leg backward. Sit on your left foot, or if mobility permits, sit on your left buttock and the outside of the left thigh. Right thigh should be relaxed so that it stretches between the hip socket and the knee. Knee faces the floor; so does the top of the right foot. Avoid strain. Pay special attention to right thigh, sacral area and left hip socket. Be aware of your mobility range and respect your limitations to prevent strain. When you reach your fullest expression of the pose, hold for three relaxed breaths. Repeat on other side. Work up to where you can spend 30 seconds in the pose on each side.

We’ll stand for our third pose, the Warrior stance (Virabhdrasana). This posture builds strength to the muscles in the ankle, an essential foundation for barefoot running. It also builds leg strength and provides stability to the knees. Stand with your feet approximately three feet apart. Rotate the right foot outward 90 degrees. Rotate left foot inward about 30 degrees. Rotate torso the face the direction that the right foot is pointing to. Be conscious of your breath and slow your breathing so that it feels relaxed. Using you pelvic muscles for support, let your inner thighs begin to stretch gently. Gentle bend the right knee and allow your right shin to be perpendicular to the floor in all directions. Be sure to keep your knee joint “stacked” directly above your ankle joint to prevent ligament strain in the knee. Let your back relax and your front torso stretch slightly. Keep weight distributed evenly on back and front foot and avoid strain. Pose should be comfortable. When you reach your fullest expression of the pose, hold for three relaxed breath, and then come out of the position by straightening the right knee and returning to initial stance. Rest and repeat on other side. Work up to where you can spend 20 seconds in the pose on each side.

 Integrate this routine into your regular stretching routine for best results.

Stretch before a big workout. It’s the oldest advice in the athletic world. So it shouldn’t be a secret that the science of Yoga, an ancient discipline that’s all about stretching would have a connection with running. But why?

It’s true that running is the only traditional sport in today’s world that rivals Yoga in terms of age. Competitive running is as old as the Olympics, which date back to pre-700 BC. Yoga as we know it today has been practiced for just as long. To find the connection, we have to ask a question: Just how did people run back in the days of ancient Greece, where competitive running was born?

The answer: They ran barefoot. There were numerous running events and different types of races, just as there are many types and disciplines of Yoga, with its 900. But no matter what Yoga pose or Yoga discipline is practiced, it is always practiced barefoot, just as every race in ancient Greece was run barefoot.

When I started doing Yoga, I started to really enjoy being shoeless, and the more I did, the more I thought about running that way. I’d been teaching customized Yoga programs for different, physically-active students and gotten lots of positive feedback. And my own practice had enhanced my own condition with every sport I pursued, but I was still avoiding running since my feet and knees hurt. So when I decided to “put a little Yoga” into my running and took my first run without shoes, it was the beginning of a beautiful connection between the two disciplines.

I quickly found that the Yoga mat and the runner’s course could be one and the same. When running, everything I said to myself on the Yoga mat fit right in with the rhythm of my bare feet hitting the ground.

“Feel it. Be connected with the ground beneath your feet” is a phrase Yogis all know well. It adds significance to the idea of simply being there on the ground. It wasn’t just that my feet were touching the ground; what happened was that I really, truly felt grounded in the most positive way, which is what Yoga aims for. That’s how, for me, barefoot running became mobile yoga.

On my first run, I was quite amazed by the way that touching the ground with bare feet heightened ALL of senses. Simply by feeling every pebble and every grain of sand with my feet, I become able to recognize things I never noticed before. I soon read of mutual experiences from other barefooters. With every run I’ve taken since then, that same heightened sense of being is there within me, as powerful as the best runner’s high but with calmness felt only during deep Yoga meditation on my mat. Knowing I am barefoot on the path makes me feel like a well-heeled Indian scout or hunter. That first ran barefoot run was on a course I still run several days a week before sunrise.

Like any system of sidewalks, my chosen path includes the occasional broken glass. On my first run I was surprised at how easily my eyes found those caltrops glistening in the dim street light ahead, and how successfully I avoided them. Many parts of the course are perpetually peppered with stones from the gardens that line it. Each day those stones get kicked to new places by passing pedestrians, yet no matter where they are I seem to dance right through them. But this primal awareness isn’t limited to the eyes or even the feet.

Yoga tells us to be present in our bodies, aware of how every muscle feels. As an experienced Yogi who just started barefoot running this year, I found out that the same principle applied to my new obsession.

One uses many new muscles once the feet are freed from shoes; that’s when true plantar flexion finally begins. It’s when you find out how important the small muscles that surround your ankles are to your success. Shoes restrict the ankles from moving just like they restrict the foot.

The simplest, most classic Yoga poses help prepare this runner’s ankles for their new-found freedom of movement. The downward dog and triangle stance are two typical postures I had done for years which helped me build strength in my ankles. Classic, one-legged balancing poses like the Tree and the Eagle both can help build ankle stability and shear leg strength. **** The well-known plank pose (the “up” in a regular push-up position can help build strength in the lower leg while the foot is in flexed position, like it will be when one is running barefoot.

By ditching my shoes and putting some Yoga into my running, I made running a far better and healthier activity. As far as barefoot running goes, I’m still a rookie. But as an experienced Yogi, I’ve already learned that barefoot running brought me much of the awareness that Yoga makes me look for-and even when my bare feet are just on my Yoga mat.