Yoga has long been known to enhance your running but few take advantage of the benefits it provides. Runners complain of bad knees, sore hamstrings and bad backs from the pounding they absorb while running. The pain that runners endure isn't necessarily from the force of their feet hitting the ground but from the imbalances that running causes. The practice of yoga is an opposite kind of exercise that can be married to running for strength, flexibility and balance.

Without opposing movements, the body compensates to avoid injury by working around instability. This compensation puts stress on the muscles, joints and bones. Tight muscles get tighter, become hard and inflexible. As shock absorbers they should be soft and malleable with some give. Brittle muscles are vulnerable to tears.

Repetitive specific actions, such as running, results in out of balance and excessively tight bodies. The endorphins that give runners such a positive feeling also acts as a mask to the pain of oncoming injuries. Yoga can help you to overcome imbalances and also focus on relaxing your body making it more effective and also saving strength. Tight muscles limit your range of motion while learning to relax the muscles enables you to operate more efficiently and with greater range of movement.

Learning how to relax your breath is another cornerstone of yoga practice. Awareness of your breath is the key to reducing the tension running, especially racing, can cause. Power yoga can help your running by using your weight in a combination of postures, holding these positions while breathing dynamically and flowing into new postures thus releasing tension.

There are five basic approaches to yoga. Hatha Yoga is the fitness approach and it has undergone many transformations. Over the past several decades almost a dozen different styles have emerged. If you attend a class and it doesn't work for you maybe another style will suit you better.

Several of my acquaintances have espoused the benefits of power yoga. Many use the tapes produced by yoga expert Bryan Kest. According to Yvette Michels of Plymouth, yoga doesn't have to be the back braking poses everyone sees. "If you start out with realistic expectations and practice consistently you'll enjoy the experience and results better." Karen Lewis of Brighton quit weight lifting after she discovered that power yoga gave her the same upper body workout and maintained her muscle tone and strength. "It helped me prevent months of physical therapy for my stiff neck." Grace Gilmore of Northville was also suffering from neck pain due to stress on the job. " I'm addicted to yoga. It's combination of strength; stretching, endurance and a quiet mind have been a godsend to my heavy travel schedule. I bring my yoga mats and Kest tapes where ever I go."

Instructor Angie Kielar, owner of Fitness Rx promotes fitness and weight loss through yoga at more than thirty sites around the metro Detroit area. You can also find a place to practice and get instructions by going to www.fitnessrxonline.com or call Kielar at (248) 488-9830. There are also yoga classes at many Parks and Recreation Centers and YMCA's throughout the Detroit area.