Join yoga teacher Hannah as she guides you through her journey and leads you in yoga flows designed for skiers and snowboarders. Warm up before hitting the slopes and cool down afterward with targeted practices to build strength, improve mobility, and recover faster!
How did you start with skiing, snowboarding and yoga? What drew you to each?
I was lucky enough to learn to ski as a kid, and from a really young age I had this deep love and appreciation for the mountains. I started snowboarding after a bad ski accident, and just fell in love with how creative and flowy you can be on a snowboard. It feels like drawing shapes on the most perfect of backdrops!
I was introduced to yoga through my mum in my early 20s, and it became a part of my life that I enjoyed but never fully explored. I dived deeper into yoga after my accident in 2014 - the recovery was long and physically and mentally challenging. Yoga not only helped me reconnect with and find a new appreciation for my healing body, but also brought me a sense of peace and clarity to my scattered mind.
To me, yoga isn’t something that you just “do” on your mat a few times a week. It’s a means of taking care of body, mind and spirit to be able to move through life with more ease, awe, wonder, appreciation and joy in each moment. And what better place to do that than in the mountains!
How do you think these three practices complement each other?
Yoga is the perfect compliment to winter sports. Physically, yoga helps you build the strength, mobility and flexibility that skiing and snowboarding demand, but there’s so much more - yoga helps create a presence of mind and inner clarity and calm that is essential, particularly if you’re pushing yourself and riding hard either on piste, in the park or in the backcountry. Fear can creep in, and rather than allowing it to take over, you can allow it to flow on through.
I love restorative and yin yoga, for recovery after a big day on the hill. Yoga bridges that connection between mind and body, so you become more attuned to the body’s needs, and more able to listen when your body might be asking you for a rest day!
Pranayama is awesome for skiing and snowboarding - energising breathing practices like kapalabhati can amp you up when you’re feeling tired, or soothing practices like humming-bee breath can calm you down in stressful situations and bring you back to balance.
To me, snowboarding is yoga. It’s total presence - your mind is exactly where your body is, flowing in harmony with your breath, surrounded by the most beautiful manifestations of nature. I can’t imagine my life in the mountains without my yoga practice, and sharing my passions for snowboarding and yoga is my favourite thing.
"Pre- and post-shred yoga is my speciality!"
I love finding a dynamic flow and connecting movement with breath to really become present with my body - warming up muscles that are going to work hard on the mountain, mobilising joints, and finding flow in body and breath to cultivate presence and awareness.
Warm Up Flow
Concentrate on building lower body and core strength and stability, while enhancing upper body mobility.
- Cat-cow: I always warm up with a cat-cow to get my body flowing, moving and connected to my breath. Take as many rounds as you need to feel your spine loosen up and feel fluid, inhaling as you open and exhaling as you round.
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Downward facing dog / down dog to plank: down dog is awesome for creating stability in the body, while lengthening and gently stretching hamstrings and calves. I love to add a little pedal to find a flow into hips and stretch out my lower back.
- Find dynamic movement by shifting between down dog and plank: inhale forward to plank to build some warmth at the core then exhale to stretch back to down dog.
- Chair pose + forward bend: a classic for skiers and snowboarders to activate quads and lower body! Add a forward bend for a lovely hamstring stretch, and flow between the two.
- Low lunge + chest openers: find a low lunge to gently open around hips and thighs, while creating stability in the lower body. I love to flow with breath by lifting arms and hips, then dropping elbows, shoulders and pelvis and opening up the chest to breathe fully and deeply.
- High lunge + knee drop: lift into a high lunge to build extra strength, and repeat the movement of opening the chest, this time while dropping the back knee to the mat. A great thigh burner to prep for your day on the hill!
- Twisted lunge: bring in some spinal mobility with a fluid twisted lunge - inhale to open up and exhale to lower down. The back knee can be lifted to build strength and balance or onto the mat for more stability.
- Repeat on the other side, and you’re good to go!
Cool Down Flow
Yoga can do a flowy cool down or (my favorite) a super restful and restorative yin or restorative practice to soothe muscles that have worked hard and bring the body back into balance with calming deep breaths.
Connect
- Instagram: @hannah.tadasanayoga
- Facebook: @hannah.tadasanayoga
- Website: hannahduncalfyoga.com
- In-person winter yoga: hannahduncalfyoga.com/winter
- Retreats:
