Our bodies go through tremendous changes as the seasons and weather change. Many people experience an increase in pain during this season, and this can be frustrating for people who want to stay active. Sometimes people shy away from yoga classes because they’ve previously gotten injured in them or because they didn’t like the frenetic pace of the class.
Yoga has been found to help with many health conditions as well as stress. You can go onto Pubmed and run a search for all the yoga research out there if you don’t believe me. With my own eyes, I’ve seen people lose weight, lower blood pressure, sleep better and improve their mood with yoga. I’ve also seen it help tremendously in managing pain, and I’ve experienced this in my own body, having suffered from chronic neck pain for many years. There is a way to practice that is helpful, and not harmful, to your body. It’s called Therapeutic Yoga.
In a Therapeutic Yoga session, a practitioner will assess your health conditions and any injuries and this will be considered to develop your protocol. It’s a great option for people who want to develop their yoga practice, while reducing pain and improving overall health. Therapeutic Yoga can not only help you reduce your pain, but it will help you continue to expand your yoga practice in a way that benefits your personal development.
Take for example a person like me with neck pain. If I go to a typical yoga class, I have to be very mindful that I don’t irritate my muscles around my neck. This can be challenging if the teacher is teaching me tons of poses that work with strengthening this part of the body, such as chaturanga, planks and upward-facing dog, especially if my ego gets involved. Headstand? Well, I’d better be really careful. I have to know when I need to back off and when I need to challenge myself more. If I’m really in my body, I can do this. If I’m distracted, well, things don’t go so well. Also, if the teacher comes over to push me further, that won't go so well either.
This is the benefit of Therapeutic Yoga. We don’t need to stop practicing. We just need to practice a little differently.
It’s time to get back in the game. It’s time to feel better. WAY better.