You don’t need to run to benefit from yoga, but you might just need yoga to find the subtler benefits from running. I say, having just completed my first marathon, balancing mindful miles of training with recovery yoga and essential strengthening classes to support the journey from the start to the finish line. Though, I'm far from the only one.
Yoga for athletes is becoming more and more utilised by coaches, teams, strength and conditioning gyms, and run clubs too. Take the New Zealand Rugby Team, England Football Team or the New York Giants NFL squad as just a handful of examples. Training across disciplines working to prevent muscle overuse, excessive fatigue and (a runner's nightmare) the need to stop all training following total burnout, opposed to exclusively training in one way. Though the benefits of yoga far extend simply keeping us the road.
Where pre-run routines often involve vague stretches and little body awareness, recovery yoga can become non-negotiable. We ask a lot of our bodies, and when yoga clicked for me, it felt, for the first time, like I was truly giving back to it. Noticing the space between my run and the rest of the day. Acknowledging the effort in covering any distance. Intentionally restoring my body and celebrating what it can do. That's how I reframed yoga and running, until the two became inseparable. And I'd encourage anyone to think the same.
It starts with intention. Setting out on a run usually comes from a need to shake something off, get out in nature, boost our mood and release a rush of endorphins. Rolling out the mat comes from a different calling: to prepare and protect the body, restore and replenish it both energetically and physically. Even applying awareness to the breath mid-run can shift the mind into a far more more resilient state, where blowing up and crashing out would have ruined a session.
There's even an ancient principle for this in yoga: Svadhyaya, meaning self study (sva, "self", and adhyaya, "study"). It's the practice of observing ourselves with curiosity, noticing how we approach challenges, distances and recovery. And it's a reminder that it's our whole selves we need to nurture, not just the legs. Running is a full-body exercise, and yoga teaches self-respect, appreciation and a deeper listening to the body's call for rest, strength and compassion.
Now I teach yoga to everyday athletes, teams and individuals who often arrive just wanting a stretch. What keeps them coming back is what they don't expect, the affirmations, the breathwork, the sense that they're learning to work with their bodies rather than against them. Watching someone grow more aware of what their training actually asks of them, and more willing to give back to themselves in return is the part I love most.
That's really all yoga is asking of you: to use the breath as an anchor through every mile, and to let your run become a moment of self-appreciation rather than just another number logged. Because it's the small habits, stacked quietly over time, that change how we run, far more than any single distance, elevation or finish time ever will.
