Yoga can loosen up your muscles and increase your body's longevity, John Farah says.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: John Farah is the co-author of "Let's Pick it up a Bit," a memoir and a guide to help people lead an active life. He has run more than 430 races, including 123 marathons.

(CNN) -- My friend Christine was into yoga long before it went mainstream, and she was good at it.

She attended yoga camps, went on a yearly trek to India and even ritually cleansed her sinuses with warm saltwater -- literally sucked it up through her nose. She claimed it possessed a healing value and kept her from getting a cold.

That was the '70s.

She tried to convince me back then that yoga would be good for me, that it would loosen up my muscles and increase my body's longevity. I wanted nothing to do with it.

"Are you kidding?" I said. "I can't stand still for two minutes, and you want me to do yoga?"

Yoga: Tap into the many health benefits

I loved running and playing sports like soccer and volleyball, things that kept me moving all the time. The idea of stretching didn't really appeal to me. Neither, for that matter, did sucking saltwater into my nose.

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Hurry up and stand still: Why runners need yoga