Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 and Marie Jerard, RYT 500 show modifications for cobra, upward dog, and sphinx pose for Yoga teacher who are teaching students with wrist injuries.
Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 and Marie Jerard, RYT 500 show modifications for cobra, upward dog, and sphinx pose for Yoga teacher who are teaching students with wrist injuries.
Dr Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 and Marie Jerard, RYT 500 demonstrate modifications for students recovering from wrist injuries. Yoga postures covered: table, cat, cow, and half plank.
Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 speaks to you about teaching Yoga with compassion, and the responsibility of a Yoga teacher to offer modifications for Yoga postures.
Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 (Director of Yoga Teacher Training at Aura Wellness Center) provides detailed information about grades of sprained wrists, ways to identify wrist problems, and the long term effects of practicing Yoga while a wrist injury is healing. This video is useful to Yoga practitioners, those looking to become a Yoga teacher or those who are already teaching.
Part 1 of a series about therapeutic Yoga for wrist injuries – Lecture given by Dr. Paul Jerard E-RYT 500 (Director of Yoga Teacher Training at Aura Wellness Center).
By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
Most Yoga teachers are certified instructors, who have gone through a lengthy training process, in order to be qualified to teach Yoga. If you have not already done so, you should look into Yoga teacher training courses to undergo the proper training to support your status as instructor. Typically, an advanced Yoga practitioner, who has years of experience, needs intensive training before being qualified to teach. However, even qualified Yoga instructors might be in need of strategies to help reduce, or prevent, injuries in their classrooms.
When Yoga Injuries Occur
Practitioners are most at risk for injury - when attempting a Yoga pose too challenging for their strength or health level, when doing a pose incorrectly, when not warmed up, or when distracted or unable to focus. As a result, Yoga teachers must remember that their primary job as instructors is not to perfect their own Yoga practice, but to keep their students focused, while they practice a variety of Yogic techniques safely.
Yoga Class Sizes
The size of of the class can impact an instructor’s ability to teach Yoga effectively. For example: If a beginner Yoga class is too big, the instructor may be unable to give enough attention to each student, as needed. As a result – beginner and youth classes should be smaller, with intermediate and advanced classes, allowing more Yoga students per session to balance business needs. Similarly, participation in athletic schools of Yoga makes injuries more likely, so teachers in these schools will see fewer injuries in classes that have smaller student-to-instructor ratios.
Feedback
To prevent injuries from occurring, instructors need to be completely focused on teaching, especially paying attention to each student’s technique and alignment. Good correction tends to be in-depth and verbal, rather than physical, since students might lose their balance if you make the change for them or may be uncomfortable with physical correction.
What to Watch For
Yoga instructors should be on the lookout for certain behaviors to help prevent student injuries.
First – since Yoga injuries happen when students are distracted, teachers should be careful to guide their students in concentration techniques to encourage focus. Instructors should not hesitate to speak with a distracted student if the issue does not resolve quickly.
Second – since injuries also happen when Yoga practitioners push themselves beyond what they can handle, teachers should take care to emphasize a slow mastery of poses, and to demonstrate this themselves, with the free use of props. Some practitioners feel embarrassed using props or get frustrated, if they do not move on to more complicated poses quickly; therefore, Yoga instructors must take care to model the safest practice techniques themselves.
Third – instructors should watch for trembling or wobbling, especially in balancing poses, since this can indicate muscle fatigue or weakness. Encouraging students who are tired, or too fatigued, to rest will help them avoid injuries that result from incorrect Yoga techniques, improper alignment, or falling.
© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
To see our selection of Online Yoga teacher training courses, please visit the following link.
http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/
FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”
FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste!
By Narendra Maheshri
There is an attitude that a few Yoga teachers have in regard to the use of props. This attitude is based on intolerance for new students and students with special needs. Maybe the Yoga teacher has not received in-depth training of anatomy, or a compassion chip, but arrogant yoga instructors should label their craft accordingly.
Some suggestions would be sauna stretch, extreme stretch and torture, hardcore boot camp stretching, or no pain no gain stretching. By discarding the word “yoga,” there is no deception. A new student would realize that there is as much risk of injury in a class with these yoga teachers as there is in a boxing ring.
Why Yoga Props Make Sense
Newcomers to yoga will find certain props invaluable, especially in the beginning when muscles are tight and rigid. At first, there may be a significance dependence on props that will decrease as flexibility increases. The greatest benefit to using yoga props, is they improve the quality of the pose which creates a better stretch.
Yoga Mats
A mat is probably the most useful of all yoga props. The purpose of a yoga mat is to provide a non-slip surface to stand on while performing yoga poses. A yoga mat protects feet from unwanted movement or slippage while holding a pose. This is instrumental in avoiding injury from slipping. A yoga mat may be used to cover another prop, like yoga block, to provide a non-slip surface. The importance of a yoga mat is creates a safe foundation when practicing yoga.
Yoga Blocks
Yoga block are extremely useful props, especially for beginners who don’t have much stretch and extension at first. A well-placed yoga block can extend the reach of an arm reaching to touch the floor when performing a wide leg stretch with a forward bend like in a triangle pose. Using a yoga block can create a deeper stretch without fear of injury. A yoga block can help maintain balance while posing, give support in a seated twist, or help maintain balance during a pose.
Yoga Straps
Yoga straps are indispensable when performing a seated forward stretch to the toes. Tight hamstrings may make it too difficult to reach the toes. Feeding a yoga strap around the toes and holding the ends of the strap in each hand will aid and enhance the stretch gently until the hamstrings loosen. Placing the strap around the toes anchors the yoga strap so the ends can be pulled to increase the stretch from the hips bending forward. A yoga strap aids stretching and holding yoga poses without straining. This makes it easy to push limits and improve yoga poses resulting in greatly improved flexibility.
Yoga Blankets
A yoga blanket may be used to comfort and support the body with a variety of yoga poses. The blanket can be folded and used to sit on to ease the strain of several seated poses, allowing the pose to be held longer with a deeper stretch. A yoga blanket can be folded or rolled to support the back or neck with poses that stress those areas. This is a versatile prop because it can be folded and shaped to suit almost any pose.
What are the Benefits?
Practicing asana, meditation, and pranayama without an injury is what we want for our students. Some people cannot sit with their legs crossed on the floor. In that case, we have to find a solution. As Paulji often stresses, “Hatha Yoga is adapted to the needs of the individual student.” Our students take yoga classes to have better health and props insure the experience is a good one. Our objective is no yoga injuries at all.
© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
To see our selection of Online Yoga teacher training courses, please visit the following link.
http://www.aurawellnesscenter.com/store/
FREE Yoga Report. FREE Yoga Newsletter. FREE Yoga Videos. Free Podcasts. Bonus: Free Yoga e-Book, “Yoga in Practice.”
FREE CONTENT: If you are a Yoga Teacher, Yoga studio, blogger, e-zine, or website publisher, and are in need of quality content, please feel free to use my blog entries (articles). Please be sure to reprint each article, as is, including the resource box above. Namaste!
By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
We all think of Hatha Yoga as a healing activity; but in the case of asana practice, like every form of movement, injuries can happen. It is also true that anyone could be injured while walking. However, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 5,500 Yoga training injuries were treated in 2007. Injuries are most commonly sustained when students have pre-existing medical conditions, poses are done repeatedly, practitioners push themselves too hard, or poses are performed in poor alignment.
Back injuries are common: Upward Dog and Cobra asanas require back bending movement, which can cause pain in the spine. Poses that elongate the back, like Seated Forward Bend, can aggravate discs. Plank and Chaturanga put pressure on rotator cuffs and wrists, while knees are at risk when practicing the Hero’s pose, the Lotus position, and the Warrior series.
Avoiding common Yoga injuries can be as simple as listening to your body. Here are some of the most common injuries and how to prevent them.
1) Hamstring tears and lower back pain. Small tears of the hamstring, that attaches at the sitting bone, are due to overstretching in Forward Bends – and left untreated, can cause persistent pain. Forcing the back into a Forward Bend can also tear muscles in the back. At the same time, the Forward Bend has therapeutic applications when practiced mindfully, gradually, and without force.
Drawing in your lower belly to stabilize your core, and tilting your pelvis downwards before moving into Forward Bends, can help prevent this injury. Avoid locking your knees, which strains the hamstrings. In fact, beginners should be encouraged to bend the knees, so that the hamstrings don’t absorb all the tension. Beginners should also train under the guidance of a competent Yoga teacher.
2) Shoulder pains. Aching, or sharp pain, can result when the shoulder is hunched forward, and the wrists can be hurt, if the arm is not in alignment.
Good posture should be practiced in daily life. Try standing with the elbows bent by your side, and with wrists flexed, as in a push-up position. Open the shoulders to feel the shoulder blades slide down the back, and the tops of the arm bones move up and back. Watch how your arms form a straight line, without the wrists turning in or out. Notice the space that is created in the chest, and preserve this space when you move onto the mat in position.
3) Knee injuries. Knee joints are meant to open and close, rather than move side-to-side. Twisting the knee laterally, rather than opened and closed, can cause pain and injury. In addition, the leg functions as a whole, divided into segments. By straining the hips or ankles, the tension can be passed on to the knee and result in aches at that joint instead.
Don’t move abruptly into hip openers, and pay careful attention to keeping your knee behind your foot in Warrior asanas.
Although freak accidents are still possible – according to the New York Times, one woman fell forward in Bakasana, or Crow Pose, and broke her nose. With strict attention to detail, most Yoga related injuries can be prevented. For most Yoga teachers, organized safety procedures are in place from the moment a new student is interviewed, to the end of class.
Teachers, who establish a track record of educating students in safety protocol, should be recognized by the Yoga schools who hire them. Although it is often underrated, a track record of safety is just as important as attracting student numbers when factoring a Yoga instructor’s value.
© Copyright 2011 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
To see our selection of Online Yoga teacher training courses, please visit the following link.