My friend, fellow yoga teacher, and physiotherapy assistant, Lindsay Regan teaches and assists people with injuries every day. As her personal practice and teaching experience has deepened, she has come to see the extent to which yoga can not only heal existing injuries, but also prevent injuries from returning or occurring at all.
Having found her insights so helpful to my own body’s quirks and misfires, I decided to share her wisdom here in a brief interview:
JT: What injuries do you often see that you believe could be prevented by yoga practice?
LR: Lower back injuries can often be prevented and/or healed with a regular yoga practice. Many of my clients who come to the clinic with back pain have jobs and lifestyles that find them sitting for hours on end, or performing heavy lifting. Counteracting these stresses to the body by focusing on chest openers (anahatasana, bridge), strengthening the back (salabhasana, utkatasana), and working on proper posture (tadasana, balancing poses) can make a world of difference.
JT: Are there certain poses you would recommend everyone do every day or is it just a matter of having a regular solid practice?
LR: My own teacher always says that a little bit every day is better than one hour once a week. While I agree, I also know it can be so difficult to fit daily practice into a busy lifestyle. Committing to a class or two a week is a terrific start. I recommend to my students to make note of just one or two poses from class that felt especially good to their body, and to try to practice those daily. Just five minutes in the morning or evening makes a big difference. Since every body is different, letting people find the poses that help them most helps them to listen to their body and create their own path to prevention and healing.
JT: How does yoga play into rehabilitation and healing from injury?
LR: I think that yoga can play into healing in many ways. By moving, stretching, and strengthening your body you are healing. But, as mentioned above, yoga also teaches us to listen to our bodies. This is a skill I can’t recommend highly enough. Slow down and listen to what your body is trying to tell you.
Yoga also teaches us to be patient with ourselves, which is of chief importance when we are trying to heal. You cannot rush back into whatever you were doing that got you injured in the first place. Be patient and allow yourself time to recover. Incorporating an asana practice into your routine can be an excellent way to lay all-important groundwork between your injury and resuming more vigorous physical activity down the line. You will be more in touch with your body, more patient with your progress, and less likely to risk pain and injury again!
JT: Thank you for the great tips, Lindsay. I guess I’d better get off the computer and onto the yoga mat!