YOGA for ATHLETES no comments
If you’ve been curious about yoga, but are reluctant to take a class because you’re not interested in a new religion or are intimidated by the pretzel stereotype then Kimberly Fowler’s Yoga for Athletes® is the class for you. Fowler is the “anti-guru” on a mission to demystify the practice and offer it to the masses. She’s passionate about yoga’s benefits, but if you’re looking for a spiritual teacher to tell you how to live your life…find someone else. “I want to empower my students to become their own teacher, she says. I hope they leave my class feeling good about themselves and what they’re capable of doing.”
Consider Fowler empowered. While attending Boston University she worked two jobs so she could pay her own way to law school, and she competed as a tri-athlete. Then one day her inner strength was severely tested. In 1982, while a second year law student, a car hit her during a bike race. A physical therapist introduced a crippled Fowler to Iyengar yoga, and it healed and realigned her totally. But the worst was yet to come.
In 1983 she was diagnosed with a terminal, inoperable brain tumor. She left the hospital determined to prove her doomsday doctors wrong.
Fowler was supposed to be dead at 30, not a professional tri-athlete. For her it was all about mind over matter. She explains, “I don’t believe in doctors. I believe in me.”
Yoga was a part of her recovery and over the years her practice evolved. She learned the importance of balancing strength with flexibility, and focused on her breath to stay centered when challenged. Ultimately, that skill was put to the limit. While rock climbing, Fowler lost her footing and fell hard. She broke ribs, punctured a lung, and suffered kidney damage. Remarkably, she was able to stay centered by following her breath while she climbed down the mountain to seek help.
Today, Fowler is the owner of YAS Yoga and Spinning Center, a successful studio in Venice California where she teaches Yoga for Athletes® and Spinning® classes daily. With decades of yoga and competitive experience, Fowler has created a class that reduces the risk of injury and enhances athletic performance. Yoga for Athletes® is a hybrid practice including elements of Iyengar, Ashtanga and Power yoga. Selected poses are sequenced to benefit the athletic body by focusing on the hips, hamstrings, core abdominals and upper body. “These are the areas that need attention, they are used and abused in sports,” says Fowler.
Professional athletes come to her one-hour class regularly, and they attribute their best ever season to Fowlers yoga classes. They see Yoga for Athletes as a ’secret weapon that keeps them one step ahead of their competition and off the disabled list. Results like this fulfill Fowler who continues to live the healing benefits of yoga. Just know before you show up that the word cant” is not in her vocabulary. “Anything is possible if you believe in yourself,” she says.
For more information, visit go2yas.com.