It's all about yoga, according to Sun Devils Asst. Lamont Smith

What do Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Charles Barkley, and I have in common? Combined, we have won 11 NBA championships, scored over 90,561 NBA points, and been named to the NBA All-Star team 43 times.  But the answer I'm looking for is that we all do yoga! For me, my yoga experience began just over a year ago.  As last school year was getting underway, I decided it was time for me to get involved in something outside of basketball to help me stay physically and mentally fit.  A good friend of mine mentioned I should look into hot yoga, and after much hesitation on my part, and after much persuasion by my friend, I decided to give it a shot.

My first time at yoga practice was an interesting experience to say the least.  It wasn't anything like the peaceful relaxing scene you see in the movies -- that &#?! was hard!  I knew I wasn't the flexible person I used to be in my younger days, but it was demoralizing to see people old enough to be my parents able to do some of the poses that I couldn't.  Also, they call it hot yoga for a reason -- the room is 100+ degrees! That's hot enough to incubate chicken eggs!  We were only 10 minutes into the 90 minute session, and I was already sweating like a pig in a bacon factory!  I struggled my way through that first session, but made it through, and although my body felt sore the next day, it was the good kind of sore.

Those first few weeks were rough.  It was a lot more demanding than I expected it to be. As I mentioned earlier, I've now been participating in hot yoga for a little over a year, and the effects hot yoga has had on me make it worthwhile.  My joints are less achy, I've lost some weight (you burn around 1300 calories every session), I'm more flexible/mobile, and just in overall better physical shape. As far as the mental benefits, I'm a less stressful person that I used to be, I have more energy, and it's a great time to just clear your mind of any worries.

I'll be the first to admit, it's not always easy to make time to get my yoga sessions in -- between playing games out of town and being on the road recruiting and late nights at the office -- but I'm pretty good about getting in at least four sessions a week.  I have made the 5:30 am session my time to make it fit my schedule, but it's worth it.

Hopefully in the near future the Sun Devil Basketball Team will give yoga a try as well!

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