Yoga for Climbers @ Red Rock Rendezvous this spring: clinic with Me:) Heidi Wirtz

I wrote this article for Mountain Gear and yes, I will be at Red Rocks Rendezvous teaching yoga for climbers. You should come and check it out! 

I hear climbers say all the time: “I am too inflexible for yoga!”, “I am too busy to do yoga!” or “I wish I could do yoga, but…” Whatever it is that is keeping you from practicing yoga, you might want to rethink it. Many climbers, including myself, swear by the benefits of yoga for climbing and for life in general. At this year’s Red Rock Rendezvous, I will be teaching yoga for rock climbers clinics. These classes will give you the basics that you need to start a routine to improve your climbing, help keep you free from injury, and heighten the quality of your climbing life.

For me, life was not subtly telling me I must do yoga. In my early 20s, I was already plagued with horrible sciatica problems from too many giant packs carried for hundreds of miles, various skiing accidents. I realized if I didn’t do something to heal my body instead of just pounding it into the dirt, I wasn’t going to get very far in my climbing career. I turned to an acupuncturist, who stuck me with lots of needles and also offered me some good advice. She told me that I could either keep coming to her every few days for temporary relief from the pain, or I could start doing yoga for a long-term remedy. The decision was an easy one for me, especially since I couldn’t afford to go to her every other day. Thus began my long love affair with yoga and, with my newfound freedom, the jump into pushing the limits of my climbing......Read More

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