Which Philly Sports Team Has the Yoga Bug?

Philly's pro athletes are learning to love a good flow.

Here’s a mental image I’ve been amused by for the past five minutes: the Philadelphia 76ers doing a team yoga session. Comcast Sports Net has a fun little story detailing the team’s new yoga regimen, which is 30-minute sessions on their non-game days instead of traditional practice drills—you know, endless layups and suicide sprints (hey, that’s how practices went for my team in high school, anyway).

I love this quote:

“We have erred on the side of rest, just trying to keep our guys as mentally fresh as possible,” [head coach Doug] Collins said. “As a result we have had a lot of slippage in what we would like to do offensively, but I think we have the better chance to win, rather than come in and try to practice for 40 minutes we are better off letting our guys come in and relax and get a nice session of yoga while being together.”

Slippage for Zen—love it.

Some of the players say they like the new routine, while others are learning just how much of a challenge yoga actually is—like point guard Jrue Holiday, who says he struggles holding downward facing dog. (I feel ya, Jrue.)

One thing everyone agrees on: the five minutes of quiet, meditative Savasana at the end is awesome. I mean, who wouldn’t like taking a quick mental power nap in the middle of their workday?