LANO Sporting Super-Heros

Jess

What is your sport or activity of choice?

Kitesurfing (wave kiting), surfing, paddle boarding, windsurfing and snowboarding.

How did you get into it?

I started on a windsurfing holiday and then moved to the Witterings and started kiting.

What made you first try yoga?

Initially an app called YogaGlo that a friend recommended. Then I was looking for a new way to deal with fertility and IVF treatment so started initially started private lessons at LANO as I never enjoyed classes. This was a great entry and I then started to attend Power, Power 2, classes with Jen & Karl, Classic with Venetia and the odd Modo with Casey!

How does your yoga practice benefit your sport?

It helps me maintain my fitness in the non-windy period of the year and improves my strength and sense of well being, as well as helping me through a tough phase in my life mentally and physically when not able to have children. Huge change in my body confidence and self-perception in my late 30’s!!!

Ali

What is your sport or activity of choice?

I’m a mountain biker primarily with a bit off-road riding for distance and winter

training.

How did you get into it?

I love exploring and being outside and the mountain bike is a fun way to mix both of those things with a little dash of adrenaline to keep it fun.

What made you first try yoga?

After years of being behind a desk or in a car the toll on my back was really inhibiting my ability to get out on my bike- 30 minutes riding and my back would seize up.  I knew I had to do something more holistic to develop my core and overall flexibility, and a friend mentioned LANO. I liked the sound of it and came along and met Neil. His enthusiasm for yoga, and his introduction to Bikram had me hooked within a week.

How does your yoga practice benefit your sport?

The benefits are quite simply amazing, I can now ride my bike for 4 or 5 hours, whilst not pain free I’m able to get the power down and enjoy myself, which is fabulous. For me though yoga helps in so many ways, there are many days I turn up for a class not really in the mood, but always leave feeling energised and ready for the day.

If I have a couple of weeks off for a holiday or other things I really notice the difference and can’t wait to get back to it. I now do a mixture of Bikram and Forrest and love it.

Ursula

What is your sport or activity of choice?

Snowboarding.

How did you get into it?

I wanted to be a snowboarder since early teenage years – it was the ultimate cool sport around. I didn’t get a chance to try it out until I was in my early twenties and went to study in Milan, where I got a chance to pop over to the Alps at the weekends. As expected, I was hooked instantly and there was no turning back – the nature, mountain backdrop, fresh air and speed had me at hello.

What made you first try yoga?

Yoga was like an antidote to my stress-job filled life, where the novelty of spin classes and high intensity training has worn off and wasn’t giving me the much needed release. Yoga came to the rescue, helping me find balance, quiet the mind and one by one – helping heal old injuries including wrist, knees, shoulder and back.

How does your yoga practice benefit your sport?

Tremendously. Firstly – posture. Since investing heavily in my yoga practice I’ve noticed a huge improvement in my alignment and posture when I ride. I have a much stronger core, which keeps me more balanced, especially as I’m progressing into freestyle snowboarding, requiring a lot more strength, agility and faster recovery from multiple falls (if you don’t fall, you’re not trying hard enough…) My joints and tendons feel more at ease, especially around the knees- I used to have to take painkillers to be able to ride as my knees were giving in. I can ride at much faster speeds because of the confidence in my centre line, landing jumps is much softer and after a full day on the slopes I’m not in agony anymore the next day!

Emile

What is your sport or activity of choice?

I’m a keen windsurfer/ surfer, but annoyingly it has been the least windy 6 months that I remember in the last 10 years!

How did you get into it?

Been doing both since I was a kid- so long ago that I can’t really remember how I got into it!

What made you first try yoga?

Jen, who teaches, has been telling me how good yoga is for years and it’s only since I started doing Crossfit in the last few months that I realised how immobile my body was and that I should do something about it!

How does your yoga practice benefit your sport?

My hope is that it will help me balance, be stronger and generally turn me into a world champion- happy to report back when the wind finally starts blowing again and I can get back in the water!

KJ

Photo by Doug Evans

What is your sport or activity of choice?

Dance

How did you get into it?

I’ve been dancing since I was very young- my mum was a dancer. I went on to train and graduate with a 1st class degree from the University of Chichester and then on to do my MA in Dance Performance at Trinity Laban in London.

What made you first try yoga?

Lots of dancers and dance teachers recommended it to me around 10 years ago so I tried a little, and while I was in Canada 9 years ago on an exchange I discovered Bikram yoga. Since I have practice both hot and cold styles of yoga. I have also just become an ashtanga and vinyasa teacher- which I love 🙂

How does your yoga practice benefit your sport?

I feel that yoga both develops and benefits my dance practice by improving my flexibility and strength. I also have a hectic freelance career and from my yoga practice feel a big benefit from having a calm mind.

Yoga is great and I love it! There are so many benefits, it’s hard to fit them all in! It’s also a lot of fun and a great way to meet like-minded people.

Simon

What is your sport or activity of choice?

There are two sports that have led me to yoga: running and golf.

How did you get into it?

I have been running for over 25 years, first joining the Worthing Harriers Athletic A-Team in my early 20’s, competing at the 800 meters and then 400 meters hurdles. In my mid 20’s I then switched to competitive Triathlons and finally in my 30’s I turned to road races competing in distances from 5 miles up to the London Marathon in 2005. I have been playing golf now for over 15 years and am currently a member at Goodwood Golf with a decent enough handicap.

What made you first try yoga?

I have always suffered with backache and this got so bad in the autumn of 2015 that I could not play golf and was in severe pain every time I ran. After seeing a back specialist at the beginning of 2016 and having an MRI scan it revealed I have 2 inflamed disks at the bottom of my spine caused by wear and tear. The only treatment short of an operation was very strong anti-inflammatory medication which relieved the problem but were not something I was happy taking long term due to potential damage to the kidneys.  So I decided to try hot yoga at LANO in February 2016.

How does your yoga practice benefit your sport?

I can now play golf and run without the need for drugs. There are still aches and pains but nowhere near as severe and I feel a lot more flexible.

My back still will not let me do standing head to knee, but give me time. Unfortunately I am not getting down to LANO as much as I would like but a hot 90 minutes with either Karl or Casey at the weekend is keeping me ticking over and I am doing my yoga stretches at home.