Ask Joanna: Yoga for injury: How to practice yoga despite illness or injury
Yoga is more than just the poses. Learn to modify your yoga practice to accommodate injury or illness.
When I first started practicing yoga in the late 90s, I was given an incredible gift.
Although I was young and fit, I practiced yoga alongside a woman who had a significant birth defect. Her right arm was much smaller than her left; and her hand was not as functional as her left. Although she had limited use of her right arm and hand, she could not put weight on it. Yet, she practiced alongside the rest of us, modifying what we were doing with two arms to accommodate her right arm.
Her example continues to inspire me to this day.
Plenty of people practice yoga despite all kinds of physical limitations. To me, this is the beauty of yoga: the practice adapts to the individual, to a variety of shapes and abilities, to bodies of all ages. It always saddens me to hear of a student who says that they have stopped practicing due to an injury or illness. Yoga offers many benefits beyond the poses! And while our yoga practice might look different than it used to be, we can still find ways to practice.
Just by showing up for yourself on your mat for any period of time is a sacred time for you to find refuge in your life. To be quiet, move a little bit, and breathe. You are regulating your nervous system and finding center.
If you go to a group yoga class, even if you cannot do everything that is offered, you are getting benefit by being in community. Find a yoga studio and a class where the culture encourages you to adapt, to sit out any movements that aren't suitable for you and that offer classes for a variety of individuals.
I would like to start a series of articles on how to adapt a yoga practice for different injuries and illnesses. After more than 20 years of study, I have lots of ideas and resources to share. I will start off this series with some common issues that I see come up with my population of students (ages 50-85+) but I would love to hear from you:
What injury or illness is keeping you from practicing yoga?
What poses or movements are you most struggling with due to your injury or illness?
I’d love to hear from you, please send me an email HERE.
A note on a "no yoga" rule from your doctor or medical professional:
While I would never recommend going against a doctor's orders to do "no yoga", I think it is worth exploring with your doctor exactly which movements or positions are contraindicated rather than making a blanket "no yoga" order. Your doctor may be very familiar with yoga or may have a very limited impression of yoga. When your doctor or PT specifies "no yoga", probe a little deeper and ask exactly which movements or poses are off limits and you may find that there is quite a bit that you can still do and gain the benefits of yoga without compromising your illness or injury further.