Yoga Poses for Lifeguards, Part One
Yoga is a mental, physical, and spiritual practice that has been adopted across the world over a span of centuries. It’s healthy for anyone, but it’s especially useful for active people who are exposed to stress often or work in physically challenging environments. Both of those are true for lifeguards. If you’re finding yourself stressed on the job or tired after work, you may want to try yoga. Start with these 5 beginning poses.
1. Downward dog
A classic pose, downward dog is both a stretch and endurance exercise. In this posture, your head is beneath your heart, your tailbone is reaching up to the sky, and your hamstrings are in full stretch mode. This is a great yoga pose to practice before your day starts so your legs are loose and ready to run and exert power.
2. Cat-cow
Another great stretching posture is cat-cow. In cat-cow, you alternate between bending your spine into a “U shape” and an “N shape.” The ‘cat’ stretch is an arched back posture, and the ‘cow’ stretch is a concave back posture. Alternate between the two while breathing in and out for maximum results.
3. Warrior Two
In yoga, you’ll find many flows incorporate Warrior One, Two and Three. For the sake of beginning postures to strengthen your lifeguarding physique, Warrior Two is a 
great one to master. In Warrior Two, your front leg is bent 90 degrees and your back leg runs perpendicular — so your back foot is running at a 90-degree angle in relation to your front foot. Your arms extend forward and backward, and you’ll hold the posture for as long as you like. Breathe and channel your strength as you hold your pose.
There are tons of yoga poses for you to try out — and we’ll come back with more. Be on the lookout!
To be sure you are not missing out on any lifeguard stories, please subscribe to our newsletter here!
For future articles about lifeguarding related industry topics, visit www.lifeguardtv.com
