Shaq Tries Yoga
The newest professional athlete to give yoga a try is basketball star Shaquille O'Neal. The Cleveland Cavaliers center tried a class in suburban Cleveland, according to the Associated Press. He needed two mats to accommodate his 7-foot-1, 325-pound frame. (The studio will be special ordering a 100-inch-long mat for his next class.)"I'm the worst yoga student in the history of yoga," O'Neal said.
But if he was out of his element, imagine how his teacher must have felt trying to come up with appropriate modifications for the basketball player.
"He's got some tight hamstrings," his teacher Tami Schneider, owner of Cleveland Yoga in Beachwood told the AP. "He's obviously a big, strong man. He told me he doesn't stretch very often and that was pretty apparent. I'm looking forward to working with him to get him into some deeper stretches."
I bet it will help his game! What do you think?
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Comments
I know a lot of my more spiritually minded Yoga friends disagree with me, but I think all these stories of celebrity Yoga are ultimately good for Yoga, and I mean good for all types of Yoga not just workout Yoga.
I believe that workout Yoga is valuable in itself, but it's also the primary feeder system for people who ultimately end up deeply into Yoga philosophy and spirituality, like myself.
I'm a walking case history. I started Yoga at my tennis club to increase my flexibility for tennis, never imagining at the time it would become the core of my inner spiritual life, and the thing I devote most of my day reading, writing and blogging about.
Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com
Posted by: Bob Weisenberg | October 9, 2009 1:35 PM
I LOVE IT! Way to go Shaq ;)
Posted by: Mary Ellen Ott | October 10, 2009 8:44 AM
I agree with the above comments. Someone like Shaq trying yoga opens the door to other people who don't see themselves in a yoga class giving the practice a try.
Anything that can help his game is great - go Cavs!
Posted by: Michelle | October 12, 2009 9:36 AM