PHOENIX -- When the A's break camp on Wednesday, each player will be making room in his carry-on bag for a DVD.

It won't be a memento of the Cactus League. The DVD will be a baseball-specific program of yoga stretches put together by Phoenix-based yoga instructor Katherine Roberts.

"It's not your mom's yoga," said Roberts, who is in her third spring training leading the A's in yoga stretches.

It's not typical for baseball teams to go in heavily for yoga, Roberts said, although some players do it on their own. But a handful of teams have incorporated yoga into their pregame stretching program, and many of the A's players swear by it.

"Yoga is awesome," catcher Stephen Vogt said. "And the way Katherine helps us use it is great. As a catcher, I have to squat and get into all kinds of compromising positions during a game. With yoga, it's easier for me to get loose and to stay flexible. I tried it a little three years ago when I was with Tampa Bay, but after doing it here, it's something I do all the time."

Even manager Bob Melvin is a fan. He was an active participant last year, and "I would be out there now," he said, but for his ongoing back pain.

Reliever Sean Doolittle said the A's use of yoga the last few seasons was one of the things that made his move from hitter to pitcher go as flawlessly and quickly as it did.

"I love it all; it's all about getting to know your body," Doolittle said. "I probably don't need the DVD, though. Katherine's been with us for a few years now, and I know a lot of the exercises by heart."

Doolittle says he practices some form of yoga a couple days a week in the offseason and does some form of it most days during the baseball calendar.

That's not to say the A's have personal yoga mats and are styling yoga wear. That's not the way Roberts wants them to approach an exercise for which she is an advocate in over 30 countries through her company, Yoga For Golfers.

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Oakland A's incorporate yoga into their daily routine