Here at Balance Chiropractic we encourage our clients to live with wellness; to make conscious choices toward a healthy, fulfilling and satisfying life. Wellness is more than just hitting the gym and eating a salad, it encompasses social, intellectual and emotional dimensions of daily life. Yoga is a great way to add a little more “wellness” to everyday existence, especially when a chaotic and overscheduled September can obliterate the zen of summer. There’s no better time to give yoga a try than September—National Yoga Month!
So Who Should (And Shouldn’t) Do Yoga?
Yoga is a highly flexible (no pun intended!) activity that can be modified to accommodate injuries and medical conditions–it can be made accessible to everyone. Some examples of conditions in which there needs to be modification or avoidance can be found in this article about Yoga for Back Problems. Most of the necessary modifications to yoga poses can be determined by understanding the issues at hand, listening to your body and communicating with the instructor.
Anyone Can Do Yoga, But Why?
Yoga has many many benefits like detoxing the body, improving sleep quality, anti-aging, stress relief… this list goes on and on (for more on yoga benefits check out this quirky article by Sadie Nardini). Yoga also provides an avenue for injury prevention and recovery, by building stronger muscles and connective tissue, toning the body and maintaining proper posture. But there are milestones that should be met before beginning a yoga program. These milestones often include
- mobility
- core stability
- flexibility
- balance
- pain free range of motion
Be sure to consult with your chiropractor, massage therapist, athletic therapist or physician before beginning a yoga regimen especially when used for recovery. They may suggest stretches and strengthening exercises that will prepare you for yoga, or to modify the current practice if a setback has occurred. And as always, start slow and listen to your body!
Leave the advanced poses to the human pretzels, at least until you’ve mastered the beginner posses.Injury Prevention
Here are a few tips to prevent injury from yoga itself:
- keep a slight bend in knees
- keep feet hip distant apart
- limit lumbar extension.
If you are new to yoga or are recovering from an injury inform your instructor, they will be happy to explain the basic yoga position/posture or demonstrate an alternative pose!