Yoga For Healthy Aging

Video of the Week: Downward-Facing Dog pose to Plank Pose

In this mini vinyasa, you move between Downward Facing Dog pose and Plank pose with your breath. This is great way to warm up for longer holds of Downward-Facing Dog and to build upper body strength in Plank pose.

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Friday Practice Pointers: Get a Diagnosis!

by Baxter

Self Portrait with the Portrait of Doctor Farill by Frida Kahlo*

As I was reviewing all the information that we have shared with you over the years on our blog regarding yoga for medical conditions, I was struck by the fact that I had not clearly and unequivocally stated the most obvious caution of all. It was easy to forget this most important caution when there is so much positive information coming out each week on studies showing yoga’s benefit for a wide range of medical conditions, from osteoporosis to Parkinson’s Disease and post-cancer treatment. I’ve even shared with you fairly clear ways to think about the use of yoga tools for medical conditions- as preventative, curative, maintenance, supportive or palliative, and rehabilitative (see 5 Ways Yoga Can Affect Your Health). And we have written about applying yoga tools for conditions here ranging from bunions to low back pain and diabetes.

But there is one caution that is crucial for all of this:

If you feel that you are developing some medical condition or illness, you should be evaluated by the appropriate health care provider—be it an orthopedic surgeon for your shoulder pain or a psychologist for your feelings of depression—and get an accurate diagnosis!

This might seem like common sense. And yet, over and over again, I meet people who are using yoga to address a health issue who have never even been to their family doctor, let alone a specialist, to find out if their suspicions about what is going on are correct. There is an old saying “The doctor who treats himself has a fool for a patient.” You are doubly or triply foolish if you are not a doctor and doing the same thing! Also, despite their best intentions and offers of help, your yoga teacher is not trained nor licensed to diagnose what ails you, even common things like low back pain that might seem their bread and butter. Even those who are certified in the new field of yoga therapy are not permitted to diagnosis your injury, illness or disorder (see Drawing a Line in the Sand: Where Yoga Teachers Should Not Go).

I certainly understand the reluctance of many to go see a doctor when you may not have health insurance, or have a plan that covers very little of the cost that might be involved in finding out what is going on. But a delay in finding out what is going on or making an incorrect self-diagnosis could leave you worse off in the long run and cost you even more. So, here is what I recommend:

If you think you are becoming ill (obvious exceptions are common colds and such), see a board-certified medical doctor doctor as soon as you can and get an accurate diagnosis.
If you are injured and are not improving in 4-6 weeks, do the same.
Once you have a diagnosis, ask your doctor or health care expert if yoga is safe to add to any treatment they recommend (see Talking to Your Doctor).
Once you have a diagnosis, discuss what you know about your condition with your yoga teacher or yoga therapist, and ask them to help you craft a plan using yoga to assist in supporting better health and healing.
If you don’t already have a teacher or yoga therapist, look for one in your community with experience, preferably working your specific diagnosis.
Once you have a diagnosis and clearance from your health team, consider using the recommendations we make here on this blog for your specific issues. But even if you choose to try out some of our suggestions, I still strongly recommend you work with a teacher or yoga therapist when you first start our applying yoga tools, especially if you are newer to yoga.
If you are in the midst of a diagnostic work-up and your doctor is okay with you trying or continuing restorative or gentle yoga, then certainly, with appropriate common sense caution, do that. The stress reducing benefits of such practices are typically supportive for just about any condition you might be diagnosed with.

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Healthy and Unhealthy Stretching Sensations

by Nina

Flames by Melina Meza

Ever hear someone else groaning in a yoga class? Or maybe that you? Yes, when you are stretching a tight area of your body, you can experience quite a bit of sensation. And while healthy stretches can provoke an intense feeling, it’s a good idea to pay attention to the type of sensation you’re experiencing because this may indicate you should back off the stretch.

As we discussed in previous posts (see What is Flexibility, Anyway?), stretching a muscle or muscle group and fascia is healthy and beneficial, but stretching a tendon or ligament can cause an injury, such as a tear, inflammation, tendonitis, or tendonosis. In addition, compressing a joint when you are stretching can pinch the tissues caught between the bones closing in toward each other, which cause pain and lead to inflammation. So it’s important to learn to tell the difference between the sensations of healthy stretch of a tight muscle versus the pain, pinching, or “smashed together” feelings that are warnings of potential injury.

Healthy Sensations. You will feel generally feel healthy stretch of a muscle in the mid-portion of a muscle, farther away from the tendons and ligaments are located close to joints. A good place to become familiar with this type of sensation is the hamstring muscle at the backs of your thighs, which you stretch in Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana) and Reclined Leg Stretch (Supta Padangusthasana). As most of you know, the intensity of the stretch sensation there can be quite strong, and yet it generally doesn’t mean you are injuring yourself. So when you experience this type of sensation, as long as the stretch is a moderate one, take a deep breath and try to relax into the stretch.

Unhealthy Sensations. You will generally feel an unhealthy stretch of muscle, tendon, or ligaments closer to a joint, such as your hip, knee, shoulder or elbow joint. And the quality of feeling will be different than a healthy stretch, maybe burning, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, or tearing in quality. For example, with the hamstring muscles, if you feel a tender burning sensation up toward your buttocks, this could be an indication you are overstretching the attachments. In all cases, when you experience these types of sensations, you should immediately back off the stretch if possible to see if that helps. If not, come out of the pose entirely.

It is possible to feel this burning, sharp, stabbing, throbbing, or tearing sensation in the muscle body as a result of a sudden, intense, quick stretch, so that is why we always recommend moving slowly and with in control into your stretches.

Joint Compression. Sometimes when you are stretching a muscle, the joint that is bending can become compressed. For example, when you deeply bend your knee joints, as in Child’s pose (Balasana), the tissues at the back of the knee joint can become pinched together. This is potentially dangerous because the compression could produce tissue damage and inflammation, or even could injure nerves or blood vessels, leading to acute or chronic pain and dysfunction.

In general what you’ll feel when a joint is compressed is either a sensation of muscles, skins, tendons, fascia, and/or bones being “smashed together” or a pinching sensation. For example, some of less flexible folks feel smashed together or pinching sensations in our front hip when doing Extended Side Angle pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana) with our hand on the floor. Both of these sensations indicate that you are overdoing it, and you should back off the stretch, possibly by adding a prop. If you can’t eliminate the joint compression, come out of the pose.

Compression can also put pressure on blood vessels and nerves, so if you have an unusual pressure sensation in the joint or feel numbness and tingling downstream from the compressed area, that is an indication that you are overdoing it and should back off the stretch or come out of the pose.

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