Yoga teacher Betsy Mayotte, MS, RYT200, NASM-CPT, offers yoga classes for TCCP members. She also teaches yoga to JTCC players and welcomes their parents to experience yoga as well. In addition to being registered as a Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance, Betsy also is certified as a personal fitness trainer by the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Her yoga classes offer tennis players of any level an ideal discipline to gain both physical and emotional flexibility, strength and balance. A consistent yoga practice matches physical and mental flexibility, allowing players to go deeper into a match, tolerate and thrive under stress, and bounce back the next day. And yoga is fun, too!
During this year’s US Open, wildcard and JTCC player Alison Riske has been in the news. How exciting to see her do so well! After her third round upset win over Petra Kvitova, Riske was asked how she felt on the court. “It was really emotional for me,” she replied. “It’s just really cool because I feel like I’m playing within myself. I’m not doing anything crazy. It just feels really comfortable. It’s exciting.” Then after her loss to Hantuchova in the round of 16, Riske was able to appreciate the experience: “I had a great tournament…even though I did lose today.” Like Alison Riske, we can all benefit from the ability to ride the waves of emotion that can erupt anytime – in high stakes tournaments or in day to day life.
A regular yoga practice offers all of us a set of techniques we can use anytime to turn inward and find the mental strength needed to calm ourselves and achieve our goals. In a well-rounded yoga routine, this mental strength grows through the practice of physical poses that challenge the body, like Chair Pose below, and breathing techniques that calm the nervous system. Through yoga we can find a more direct path to our inner strength – a place where we can feel “comfortable” like Alison Riske, where we can be “at home” with ourselves.
THIS MONTH…..GET LOW/STAY LOW WITH CHAIR POSE
Chair Pose, also called “Lightning Pose,” can really light up the quads, hamstrings, and glutes as they work to maintain alignment in the legs. Muscles of the back are also engaged, along with the core, to increase strength, balance and stability. Chair Pose even strengthens the feet, ankles, and calves – our foundation for movement and agility. Tennis players who need to “get low, stay low” will find this pose helps train the muscles needed to stay low to the ground during play. The pose also helps develop willpower and focus. Try holding it for five full breaths and you will understand why! Through regular practice of Chair Pose and other yoga postures, we can align our physical strength and our mental focus to find that place of comfort and calm within, from which we can achieve our goals.
Join us for TCCP YOGA
To experience Chair Pose and other yoga postures and breathing techniques, join us on Monday evenings for yoga class, a benefit for members of the TCCP community. You will develop your own safe, enjoyable, and transformative practice – one that becomes part of your daily routine. We hope to see you on the mat soon!
Yoga classes are offered every Monday evening in the TCCP Yoga Studio:
Intermediate Yoga (6:00 to 7:00 PM) For those with some yoga experience.
Welcoming Yoga (7:00 to 8:00 PM) For newcomers or those who want to review basics.
Exciting news!! In October we are adding a new multi-level yoga class on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 PM.
Come join us and experience the benefits for yourself!
Betsy offers weekly yoga classes for TCCP members and JTCC parents and players. She feels right at home at TCCP, having spent much of her life around professional tennis in the Mayotte family. Her teaching reflects that experience and her love of tennis. Whatever their level, she encourages her yoga students with the words of Arthur Ashe: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Betsy is a regular contributor to the ALL ACES blog. You can contact her at betsy@yogaeducationservices.org.
