Originally published July 2019. Updated August 2026 for clarity and current safety guidance.

Breathing is often misunderstood in sports training, which is odd given it’s something universal to all athletes. Everyone wants to maximise their oxygen uptake, but despite what many people think, funnelling larger volumes of air via our mouth is not the way to do it.

If you’re feeling breathless or wheezy, either during or after exercise, then you may be experiencing exercise-induced bronchoconstriction (EIB), where your upper airways tighten and restrict airflow. You may be told it’s due to fitness, but if you disagree, it’s worth checking if the way you’re breathing is a factor.

Ineffective breathing affects around 1 in 10 of the general population, but is higher amongst athletes and those suffering from asthma or anxiety. The incidence of EIB in athletes ranges from 10–50%, depending on the sport and intensity. At the Athens Olympics, 21% of the UK team displayed asthma symptoms.

Whils...

Originally published January 2019. Updated August 2026.

When I first wrote this article in January 2019, online yoga education was still finding its feet.

Little did any of us know that just over a year later, a global pandemic would close yoga studios, universities, gyms and training centres around the world. Teachers who had spent their careers working face-to-face suddenly had to learn how to teach through a screen.

For us at the Institute of Yoga Sports Science® (YSS), the situation was different.

We had already been teaching online for more than a decade.

And the journey that got us there began with another global crisis.

How it all began 

Teaching a sports-specific yoga session at Ipswich Town FC, UK, 2001

My interest in yoga for athletes began long before online education became part of the picture.

From around 2000, I had been exploring a hypothesis: could yoga be adapted specifically to support athletic performance?

I began putting that question into pract...