What is Play Tennis. Practice Yoga.® ???

Play Tennis. Practice Yoga.® is a business, operated outside in the great outdoors, on a private tennis court located in Punta Gorda, Florida. What do we do there? Well, as you might guess, we play tennis and we practice yoga! As a certified Elite Tennis Professional through the USPTA and a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance, it's my passion to combine these 2 disciplines. Yes, I teach tennis in the form of private lessons, group clinics (including hosting specialty classes such as inTENNSity fitness) and I also lead private yoga sessions, and yoga classes including special events. But all of this in combination adds up and equals to: Yoga for Tennis.

It's my goal to approach this idea of Yoga for Tennis in a very unique way. While I do teach specific Yoga for Tennis classes on court and online (see my YouTube channel: Play Tennis. Practice Yoga. for more on this!) I also teach yoga for tennis, using tennis as my medium. What does this mean? It means that our goals in learning together include body awareness through footwork and stroke production, learning how to breathe properly while decreasing muscular tension and promoting fluidity in strokes, and finding focus through concentrating on a specific mental task while hitting balls. Yoga philosophies are also extremely helpful in dealing with competitive situations, especially with regards to the competition within, in becoming aware of self-talk that can often be a detriment to the game.

I find that students are able to improve apart from the typical "paralysis by analysis" that occurs when we have too much to think about once (we have all been there and one might say that is the human condition!) As students improve, they are able to take simple cues and accessible practices with them into their "home practice" (more on what this means later.) They begin to have the tools to work on their own, in an enjoyable way, and in best case they take the tools of their Yoga for Tennis practice into their everyday lives, and from what I have experienced this can be life changing!

Are you a tennis lover or a yoga practitioner? Are you both? I would love to hear from you and learn where in the world you practice! Are you a beginner or a seasoned practitioner? What are your greatest obstacles in tennis and/or yoga? One of the joys of creating this business is that I have also been able to build an online community through social channels with these same passions in mind, along with like minded people. I would love to hear your story and how you connect to mine!

Margit Bannon is both a certified Elite Tennis Professional with the USPTA and Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance. She teaches Yoga for Tennis at her place of business:

Play Tennis. Practice Yoga.® located in Southwest Florida. Connect with Margit by following her on Instagram : @playtennispracticeyoga as well as subscribing to You Tube Channel: Play Tennis. Practice Yoga. for inspiration to your practice, both on court and on the mat. Visit www.playtennispracticeyoga.com for more information.