Catie Ledwick ’16 has made her mark on campus this year by teaming up with the Dickinson Athletics Department to teach yoga to varsity athletes, helping them not only with injury prevention and flexibility, but also finding ways to relieve stress and find peace in their busy schedules. Ledwick now works with the men’s basketball team and the women’s lacrosse team, where both athletes and coaches consider her yoga expertise to be an integral part of their off-season training.

Ledwick, known as “Leddy” by most, began teaching classes to Dickinson athletes as a member of the women’s lacrosse team.

“Yoga is a great way for our athletes to get together and participate in low impact, mindful physical activity,” says women’s lacrosse head coach Kim Lowry. “Leddy has tremendous energy and passion for the program. I love being able to incorporate her yoga expertise into our optional offseason training.”

Senior captains of their respective teams Caroline Clancy and Ted Hinnenkamp find that yoga is a great way to diversify their workouts and relax.

Clancy explains, “I love Leddy’s classes because it’s nice to have 30 minutes to an hour of meditation where I can focus on relaxing and refocusing my mind on what’s really important.”

This mindfulness is what has kept Ledwick hooked for over five years. “Apart from increasing one’s health and vitality, yoga is a stress reliever. It takes your mind off the issue at hand and has you focus on your breath. The meditative qualities make it a great, especially around finals,” she adds. “Yoga has taught me patience, acceptance and balance and it is for this reason why it holds such importance in my life.”

Through teaching the athletes control through breathing and linking their breaths with body movement, Hinnenkamp and Clancy look forward to working out with Ledwick.

“Yoga is such an underrated workout,” according to Clancy.

Specifically for athletes, “the major benefit is increase in flexibility,” Ledwick explains, which “decreases risk of injury and increases blood flow to tissue.”

The men’s basketball team has noticed a difference: “The yoga classes have helped our team out a lot in terms of staying healthy. Being flexible does not go hand in hand with being tall, so the yoga sessions have been crucial in helping us stretch out our muscles and keep them fresh,” says Hinnenkamp.

The appreciation of these athletes for Ledwick’s sessions may not come as a surprise for some. Many high profile athletes such as Lebron James, Tom Brady, Kevin Garnett and Victor Cruz reportedly practice yoga regularly. Some “major league sports teams, like the New York Giants, incorporate it into their conditioning programs,” explains Ledwick. As a former athlete, she understands how the way she teaches yoga can help ease an athlete’s aches and pains.

Hinnenkamp finds that the sessions feel somewhat customized: “Leddy’s a great teacher because she knows what she’s doing and is willing to adapt her workout to benefit the needs of the team.”

Ledwick’s interest in yoga began as a junior in high school when her older brother and his friends invited her to tag along to a “30 dollars for 30 days” of unlimited hot vinyasa yoga deal. “At first I looked at it as another workout, but then I tapped into the meditative qualities that the practice offers and became hooked to the point where I practice daily,” she says.

Ledwick states that “teaching yoga has been a highlight of my senior year,” since it has been such a great way to stay involved on campus.