Recognizing Red Flags in a Therapeutic Yoga Setting
By Tiffany Cruikshank, L.Ac, MAOM, E-RYT & Founder of Yoga Medicine
As a yoga teacher it is clearly not our job to diagnose or to be our students primary care provider, however when working therapeutically there are important moments in time that can determine the outcome of our care and the students state of health that hinge on their timeliness of seeing their doctor. As yoga teachers we tend to take all of our students problems on as a challenge to the efficacy of the yoga practice rather than embrace the medical community around us for support. The key is acknowledging that there is a very important place for every medical modality and guiding our students to be mindful of their bodies to help them on their journey to health. In a therapeutic yoga setting we have the opportunity to collect detailed information in working with our students over a longer period of time and therefore we also see things that may have gone unnoticed that may warrant a visit to their doctor. This course digs into some of the main red flags when working with students with pain that would necessitate a visit to their doctor. Our goal as a yoga teacher is not to be everything to everyone but rather to support both the student and the medical providers with the patients best interest in mind.