Helping your students enjoy the lesson and prevent injury
Yoga is an excellent form of movement for all stages of life and for all body types. not only does it help with mental health, but it has many other health benefits. In this short article, you will learn about the benefits for joints, muscles and bones. We will also discuss some precautions when teaching students with joint disease.
Some of the long-term health benefits of yoga for people with joint disease include reduced pain, improved joint flexibility and function, reduced pain perception, reduced stress and tension to promote better sleep and mental health.
Yoga involves many weight-bearing exercises that apply tension to muscles and bones. These exercises are great for strengthening bones and improving bone density over time. Yoga reduces muscle fatigue. Finally, yoga helps increase muscle flexibility and balance development, two key attributes that help prevent falls, especially in older adults.
The most important safety precaution for joint health is movement awareness. Sometimes students can arrive tired, stressed from their long day at work, eager to imitate the “teacher” or sleepy in those early morning classes. The best thing you can do is help them develop an awareness of their movement patterns and body alignment. The early cues you provide in your opening pose can help students become mindful of their bodies. Also, you begin to model safe movements when you lay your mat on the floor.
By using an abdominal breathing technique, you can help your students bring their senses and spirit into the current movement. Aromatherapy can help students move into the present moment and disconnect from the noise of the world. Additionally, aromatherapy has been shown to reduce the perception of nociceptive pain (pain caused by damage to body tissues). Scents like lavender, sesame, bergamot, and ginger can help participants reduce their pain.
Another practice to add at the beginning of the course could be a body scan. This mind-body connection exercise can help develop an awareness of the body in terms of space, the sensations and signals that the body provides to the person, and how to honor them. It can help renegotiate the nervous system’s response to stress, trauma, injury, and disease.
There are different joint diseases; some are inflammatory, like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and others can be linked to injury, but other people can have genetic conditions and hypermobility. Safety precautions in each population are different. For people with active joint inflammation, a slower class, with props and joint support, might be more beneficial than a strong stream. Also support the joints, for example by using knee pads and reminding participants not to look at the joints. A 2006 structural yoga therapy study showed that people with moderate to severe RA should avoid high-intensity exercises, prolonged presses, prolonged stillness poses, and stretching beyond the comfortable range-of-motion endpoint. Athletes are at increased risk of injury since they engage in activities that increase their risk of injury and use muscle groups repeatedly. Helping athletes balance the strength of less-used muscles and increasing flexibility in those that are mostly used can help them prevent injury. For students with hypermobile joints, when inviting them to poses that support the weight of joints such as the elbows, shoulders, or knees, ask them to keep a slight bend in the joints. Since their connective tissues are already more mobile, building strong muscles is a good priority in this population; for example, with a power flow, stretch to 80% of your natural capacity and consider adding weights or blocks to build muscle strength. Don’t forget that hypermobile students are more at risk of injury. It helps them control their mobility while increasing their dynamic strength for a healthier life.
Scientific studies have shown that yoga is beneficial for people with arthritis. A study conducted at the Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center showed that for sedentary people with arthritis, yoga appears to be safe, doable, and enjoyable for people with rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. Patients who engaged in yoga as an exercise also reported improvements in positive affect, perceived stress, and pain. Additionally, after completing the procedure, a follow-up study also found improved balance, functional range, upper body function, and reduced pain. Yet in another study published in Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America, the authors found critical evidence to reduce disease symptoms (painful/swollen joints, pain) and disability. It has also demonstrated improved self-efficacy and mental health. People with pain may be afraid to move or exercise; sharing these benefits and safety precautions before class can help reduce their fear and anxiety, and thus enjoy your class even more.
Students with arthritis should consider a yoga class in a heated pool. The hot water will help reduce inflammation and joint tension while increasing muscle mass. Aqua Yoga is effective in rehabilitating injured parts, even for strong athletes. Immersion of the body in water helps lessen the effect of gravity and improves alignment. Aqua Yoga reduces pain, allows for a greater range of motion, strengthens muscles, and improves balance and performance of the injured part. Clinical results show that athletes participating in aquatic rehabilitation and post-land rehabilitation have better scores on postural control, indicating better balance and reducing the risk of falling out of the water. Thus, some athletes could recover more quickly from their injuries.
Aqua yoga can be a good alternative for people with arthritis, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy, and those who have had hip or knee replacement surgery. Water yoga can also be beneficial for people with balance issues or chronic back pain due to disc disease or sciatic nerve pain.
If you are reading this article, you are either a yoga teacher or a yoga practitioner. You may have discovered the many health benefits of yoga. Yet you were curious if people with joint disease can safely participate in a yoga class, as there is still skepticism that yoga is beneficial for this population in Western countries. Helping your clients feel safe should be your number one goal, then helping them become aware of how their body moves and if a form/posture respects their current state of health. Please get out your yoga props and oils, and let’s breathe and move together! Finally, ending your course with a body-centered practice of gratitude can help patients focus on the pain and blessings they still have in their physical bodies. Choose a blessing to give your students and maybe even pray that your oils and hands will be God’s instruments of healing.
Maria del C Colon-Gonzalez, MD
Dr. Maria is a lifestyle and integrative medicine physician in Texas. She also teaches yoga at The Breathing Room. She believes that everyone can rewrite the story their body tells.