The Absolute Basic

In yoga, there is special emphasis on conecting your movement to your breath. A good rule of thumb is as you are extending your spine you breath in and while flexing your spine you breath out. Let's pretend you are lifting a box of inner tubes and, instead of using your knees, you are bent at the waist 90 degrees. Classical Hatha Yoga teaches that you would breath in as you come up to standing. This is spinal extension. If you were putting that box of inner tubes down, you would exhale as you lowered toward the floor. This is spinal flexion.

On a bicycle, your spine is in a state of nearly constant flexion. This, along with bars set too low, is the primary cause of back pain in cyclists. Simply sitting on the bike for hours in spinal flexion can hurt. This is one area where basic yoga breathing techniques can make a huge difference for almost every cyclist.

First, while off the bike, sit in a chair in a comfortable position with good posture. Close your eyes and imagine balancing your shoulders over your hips with a natural, gentle curve in your low back. Do not arch your low back, but keep a natural curve; no slouching. Imagine balancing your head over your shoulders while your shoulders are balanced over your hips. Begin to bring your awareness to your breathing. After several breaths, begin to imagine a little space between each vertebrae, from your hips to your head, that expands a little with each inhale. Imagine this expansion allows your spine to lengthen just a little on each inhale. On each exhale, imagine the length remains and your spine roots into the chair through your sit-bones. Inhale, and imagine every vertebra, from your tailbone all the way to the crown of your head, expanding one millimeter. Exhale, and imagine your body rooting through your sit-bones and maintaining the length. Practice this while sitting at your desk, in the car or anywhere you find yourself sitting down. By practicing this often, you will do it more naturally while riding. This is also a good way to improve your posture.

Next, while on the bike, with your hands on the top bar or hoods (if using drop bars), inhale and imagine the breath lengthening the spine from the hips to the crown of the head. Some cycling training explains this as imagining a string attached to your sternum pulling you forward. By mentally lengthening your spine, you will maintain a correct level of curvature in the low back, keep the weight of your upper body equally distributed between your spine and your arms and keep your shoulders in proper alignment which helps breathing. Doing this excercise before any pain arises can help prevent the pain from rising. Doing this after the pain arises can also help, but if the pain is already coming, it is best to dismount and do some simple side stretches, which we will discuss next time.

So while riding, on each inhale imagine lengthening your spine from the hips to the crown of your head. You may feel a shift in your pelvis. This may feel like your pelvis is tilting forward. This is a good thing. However, do not allow your weight to shift too far forward on your arms.

This exercise connects the yogic principle of inhaling while lengthening the spine with the mechanics of riding a bicycle over long distances. While completing a 300 KM brevet on August 2, I made a conscious effort to practice this technique and I experienced no tightness or pain in my back. Even after 186 miles, I had no discernable back pain. I was experiencing some neck fatigue, but I have since begun an asana sequence that should eliminate that.

Please remember that yoga is not for everyone. No one should use the techniques described here as a substitue for qualified instruction from a Registered and Certified Yoga Instructor. The techniques detailed here are provided as a guide to the health benefits available to some people through yoga.

Namaste,

Jim