400 m Sprint to Timeless Performance: Yoga for Athletes with Jonas Plass

Kat’s Podcast – Episode no. 26

All is connected: We can’t separate one part of our lives from another. We can’t separate what we eat from our health and we can’t separate how we deal with stress from our state of mind. And, as an athlete, we can’t separate our performance and training from what else is going on in our lives. Today’s episode is picking up on that holistic truth.

I’m talking to Jonas Plass: a certified Tantric Hatha Yoga Teacher and Ayurvedic Consultant, a former 400 m runner, Olympic participant, finalist in the world championships and member of the German national team for 10 years.

He’s here to help atheletes understand their bodies, minds, and overall health better. Combining his two worlds, he is providing them with a perspective that doesn’t end with their training session. He shows how they could perform better when they were able to make the link between what they did outside their training sessions and what impact this has on their overall performance, health and life. 

His new program “Yoga for Athletes” is bundling all of his athletic and yogic life experience giving you the knowledge to not just perform better in your next competition but go through life more in your own power – because:

Ultimately, it’s not about the sprint or the next competition but about life and performing on a bigger level.

Although this episode is especially for athletes, it is also great for anyone who wants to connect the dots and understand their bodies, minds, and overall health better.

We talk about: 

• Jonas’ own story of being a sporty child to becoming a finalist in the world championships to finding yoga
• How it felt to be at the world championships at the young age of 21 after only two years of training
• The three phases of his 10-year professional athletic career
• How yoga helped him not only overcome physical pain, but find something bigger
• Why he is so passionate about bridging “his” two worlds: the world of professional sports + the world of yoga
• How yoga can help athletes in performance, mindset and long-term healt
• Why it’s not enough to focus on training + why you want to structure and fill your day in alignment with your body-mind constitutio
• The connection between yoga and Ayurveda + what Ayurveda is
• The development of imbalances: Why traveling, training and eating popcorn might bring you out of balance
• Dis-ease as pre-stage of disease as we know it
• Health is more than the absence of illness: When did YOU feel totally healthy the last time, like nothing bothering you physically or mentally?
• A little dive into yoga philosophy
• Mind and mindset + how yoga can help you calm down and focus
• And, of course, all the details of his new program “Yoga for Athletes” 

Episode resources:

• Get in touch with Jonas: website | instagram 
• Get 30% off your yoga class! Go to www.acebe.de/y4a and use the code KatsPodcast30 to get 30% off your first booking (single class or class pack). Sign up via the link. Voucher can be applied once, but feel free to forward it to friends. Valid until March 31.

• related podcast episodes:
  • ep. 16: Navigating Change & Uncertainty: Release Tension and Stress with Help of Ayurveda with Kellen Brugman
  • ep. 12: Body, Mind & Soul Health: Empowering Yourself from the Inside Out with Steph Gaudreau
  • ep. 9: Freediving as Mirror: Why Relaxing Completely is Key to Inner Freedom with Jesper Stechmann

• My email if you like to reach out & give feedback 
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• My Instagram if you wanna follow along
• music (Intro/Outro): Thanks to Analog By Nature. Credits: cdk – Sunday by Analog By Nature (c) copyright 2016 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Thanks so much for listening!

Did you like this show? What helped or inspired you most? Let us know by sending an email to hello @kathrinhecht.com or commenting on instagram. And if you’re listening on Apple/iTunes: I’m super thankful for a 5-star-rating and a review so we can inspire more people out there!