by a Special Sports Correspondent

Yoga is used in many sports as a therapy, but hardly do we hear of such a combination between yoga and rugby, especially in Sri Lanka.

It did happen recently when the head coach of Rugby Promotion Foundation Ajith Fernando thought it apt to hire the services of a yoga teacher and send his chargers through some yoga drills.

Fernando, an accomplished rugby coach and an ex-employee of Sri Lanka Rugby, has observed over the years that rugby players in the island do little to put their lives in order. Most of them are good players, but very few eat right and organise their lives properly.

To put these lives in order Fernando invited yoga teacher Yoga Siromani Kelum Sri to take the boys and girls at his rugby academy through some mind relaxing yoga activities.

“I realised that these rugby players are stressed out and they needed to relax because when you are stressed you tend to get injured. Rugby is a game where there is so much physical contact and falling, so it’s important for players to have relaxed muscles and a clear mind. Yoga helps condition both mind and body,” said Kelum who is armed with a Diploma in Yoga Therapy from the famous Shivananda Ashram in India.

Kelum is not a person who has spent a sedentary life and has limited himself to a light exercise form like yoga. He had his moments during his youth as a kick-boxer and has also done drama and accepted acting roles. Hence he can easily understand how demanding rugby can get and the importance for rugby players to try yoga.

So the boys and girls from Rugby Promotion foundation made a journey to his yoga studio named Sri Aoura Yoga Retreat and situated in Anuradhapura.

“Yoga helps reduce sports injuries and reduce pain in existing injuries. If you continue with yoga you can cure these injuries permanently,” said Kelum.

The participants at the session were taken through sessions where they were taught breathing techniques and stretching. They were also taught the three qualities (Gunas) of how yoga categorises all things in the word including food. According to Kelum all things including food are categorised into Tamasic (dull/heavy), Rajasic (energetic/strong) or the Satvic (pure) quality. “When you consume vegetables and milk which have Satvic qualities they digest fast compared to meats which will take a long time to digest and dull the mind and slow down activity till digestion is completed” explained Kelum.

He said that he was concerned that the present generation sportsmen and women consume much fast foods; sometimes taking them even as their main meals. Rugby coach Fernando chips into the conversation and says that his academy has programmes to feed participants with nutritious food after a training session. “It’s vital that a rugby player has a solid healthy meal within half an hour after his workout,” Fernando said.

Yoga dates back to more than 5000 years and was used widely in Northern India by Yogis and Rishis. Then India’s yoga teachers started to travel the world and conduct sessions; hence its promotion and gaining global popularity. Some of the international sports stars who have made yoga a part of their lifestyle are Shaquille O, Neal (Basketball), Ray Lewis (National Football League), Kevin Love (Basketball) and Evan Longoria (Baseball). They were all bowled over by yoga’s ability to relax, rejuvenate and train the mind to focus sharply at a task at hand.

The Rugby Promotion Foundation has regular sessions with Kelum. “Once when they were here I organised a drama session for them after the yoga training. I use yoga and drama in my relaxation programmes. Most of these rugby players were so taken up with the drama session that they wanted more of it. All this goes on to show that sports people are so stressed out and need a mode to release that stress. After the yoga session and stretching there were children who said we’ve had enough. But when I introduced them to drama those who wanted to call it a day in training went on for a few more hours,” said Kelum underscoring the therapeutic benefits and using relaxing techniques with sportsmen and women.

Kelum says that yoga offers a catalogue which is loaded with techniques that are helpful in maintaining the human body. But he says that with rugby players, who are children, the target is to make them release stress, be supple and be free of injuries.

Rugby coach Fernando used to take his chargers for regular beach training sessions and make them be with nature. “We had our sessions till recently where the players wore masks and followed health guidelines specified for combating COVID-19. But all that has stopped because of the third wave of the pandemic,” said Fernando.

But these rugby players now know of a way out of this stagnated position they are in life due to the pandemic. They only have to refer to the tutorials they were offered by yoga teacher Kelum. Yoga can offer a total body workout and keep you fit, strong and focused till the state authorities make the announcement that they’ve lifted travel restrictions and it’s safe to go and play rugby again.