Injury prevention with Common Sense Yoga -This cartoon makes me want to write about using your yoga practice as a way of healing and preventing injury ~
Yoga is a practice that takes time to learn. You can’t speed it up, you can only practice and build skills that will help things unfold as the mind-body receive the re-education from tension and holding patterns to release, increased range of motion, comfort, relaxation. Sometimes a holding pattern becomes chronic and that is where you really need a gradual approach which is always different for each person. If your practice is not balanced (we tend to over-do) then you are not getting all the benefits, many of which are derived from the restoratives and other components. I just taught a group today where many of the men were runners, particularly tight in feet, calves, hamstrings, hips; so we took time to adress this ~ you can’t just “fold forward”. Click here for a great read on preventing/healing hamstring injury with yoga therapy
Yoga is a practice that takes time to learn. You can’t speed it up, you can only practice and build skills that will help things unfold as the mind-body receive the re-education from tension and holding patterns to release, increased range of motion, comfort, relaxation. Sometimes a holding pattern becomes chronic and that is where you really need a gradual approach which is always different for each person. As you can see from the photo, there is often resistance from the mind/body, so you need to differentiate and navigate so that you do not induce pain or strain. If your practice is not balanced (we tend to over-do) then you are not getting all the benefits, many of which are derived from the restoratives and other components.
Yoga is pretty popular here but I have noticed its use as fitness and cardio based exercise. Physical practice of yoga is movement, so you need to know that a potential for injury is still present. I support any teaching that has a positive impact on the students. But once in a while, I get an a new student who asks about an injury. These injuries are usually a result of one of the following:
- Overuse (repetitive stress syndrome)
- Overloading a particular area (an underused tissue)
- Misalignment
Because of my background I do my best to offer yoga as the therapy to the yoga injury. I try to give precise directions and help you find the pose from the inside of your body rather than expecting one cue to cover the masses. If you are recovering from an injury or just wanting to avoid an injury, join me or I am available for a private yoga class here in Bergen County.
Rana Waxman is a registered yoga therapist ERYT-500, with 20 years of teaching experience. Rana is a freelance writer and social media expert in addition to leading yoga workshops internationally and teaching alignment focused private and group Yoga Lessons in Hoboken and Jersey City NJ.
