By Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500
The traditional medical approach to helping people recover from serious injuries is to focus on healing the specific afflicted area, but Chair Yoga offers a unique holistic approach that deals with the mind and body as a complete system. There are numerous benefits to this more intuitive method of rehabilitation.
Chair Yoga is valuable for rehabilitation purposes because it exercises and strengthens the entire body and mind, rather than simply working only one specific region of the body. Keeping the whole body in good physical condition is one of the most difficult challenges facing individuals who are recovering from injuries. By utilizing therapeutic Yoga methods for rehabilitation, muscle atrophy is prevented, and the majority of muscle tone is preserved.
Yoga in a chair is also highly adaptable to the physical needs of a wide variety of injured individuals. Balance issues and weakness are circumvented by the use of a chair as a foundation and a prop, giving patients the opportunity to regain flexibility and mobility. With the use of a chair, rehabilitation can be accomplished safely and more quickly than many other methods. Preserving muscle tone speeds recovery time dramatically.
Benefits of Using a Chair for Recovery
Another benefit of practicing Yoga with a chair, for physical rehabilitation, is the fact that the danger of further injury is much lower than with other exercise methods. When the body is injured, it is only natural for people to begin adapting and favoring the other side of the body. This, in turn, leads to improper alignment and the potential for greater injury, due to unnatural stresses being put on areas of the body that are simply not designed to be used that way. By keeping the body limber, and retaining as much mobility as possible, overall recovery time is reduced.
Mental and Emotional Healing
Chair Yoga, for physical rehabilitation, also addresses the mental aspect of recovery naturally. Chair Yoga enables people to be aware in the present moment, which, in turn, lowers stress significantly. Recovery is best approached on a moment-by-moment basis, so creating and maintaining a state of optimism is extremely helpful.
Conclusion
Yoga in a chair is slowly gaining popularity as a primary therapy for physical rehabilitation, but it also makes an excellent complementary therapy when used in conjunction with traditional physical therapy methods. Whether used on its own, or in addition to other rehabilitation methods, Chair Yoga can make all the difference during the recovery process.
© Copyright 2012 – Aura Wellness Center – Publications Division
See our testimonials to find out what our graduates have to say about teaching therapeutic yoga sessions and our selection of online yoga teacher training intensives.
If you are a teacher, yoga school manager, 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. Namaste!
Using chair yoga with traditional medical approach can bring a great benefits for body and mind while recovering from serious injuries. Thanks for sharing this useful article.