24: Yoga & Injury, Part 2

Last week we opened a conversation about yoga and injury. Tiffany and Rachel talked about the three main phases of healing, common mistakes made during the healing process, and what role therapeutic yoga can play. This week we continue the conversation, with Tiffany and Rachel now focusing on how teachers and students can reduce the potential for yoga injuries.

In this episode, Tiffany and Rachel discuss whether or not to ask about injuries before class, poses and transitions they avoid or approach with caution, and practical tips to create a yoga practice that focuses on variety, curiosity and resilience.

Listen in to learn why it’s important to respect the power and potency of the practice, and how to use it to explore the owner’s manual to your own body

“With any potent medicine you need the proper dosage.” – Tiffany Cruikshank

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“There’s no way you can completely bubble wrap students and protect them from injury – and nor would you want to.” – Rachel Land

Show Notes:

• Whether or not to ask students about injuries before class [3:11]
• Yoga poses and transitions we avoid or approach with caution [6:38]
• Thoughts on headstand and shoulderstand [9:20]
• The impact of repetition: Chaturanga and jumping forward or through transitions [12:50]
• Acute versus chronic injuries [15:24]
• Top tip to reduce the likelihood of injury [18:32]
• “Correct” form and “incorrect” form [20:25]
• Different approaches for injury management in one-on-one versus group classes [23:30]
• Setting aside the ego [25:27]
• More suggestions to decrease the potential for yoga injury [28:00]
• Speaking mindfully: nociceptive or fear-based language [33:44]
• The therapeutic power of vividly visualizing challenging yoga poses pain free [37:42]
• Key take-away points [40:55]
• Defining therapeutic yoga [44:29]

Links Mentioned:

• Watch this episode on YouTube
• Common Yoga Injuries & Prevention Online Course
• Find a Yoga Medicine Teacher page
• Yoga Medicine Podcast Episode 15: Shifting Persistent Pain with Marnie Hartman, DPT, CSCS
• Yoga Medicine Podcast Episode 19: Fascia and Pain
• Hip: Anatomy, Dysfunction, and Application Yoga Teacher Training
• Spine: Anatomy, Dysfunction, and Application Yoga Teacher Training
• Shoulder: Anatomy, Dysfunction, and Application Yoga Teacher Training

“What I do on the mat is not the goal, it’s the means to feel better in the rest of my life.” – Rachel Land