Yoga+ Joyful Living

May-June 2008 Yoga Therapy for your Arches

Wed, 28 May 2008 10:10:16 -0400

Our cultural epidemic of weak and fallen arches provides a sure and steady income to the orthotics industry. But many of us still suffer from aches and pains that arch supports and padded insoles can’t quite eradicate. For instance, when you first hop out of bed in the morning, do you get a rude awakening from sore feet and tight calves? This is just one kind of soreness from chronic strain to a muscle whose job is to help lift the inner arch of your foot. Fallen arches can result in tendonitis and contribute to the development of bunions, shin splints, and pains in the knees and hips—and can even affect the lower back, neck, and shoulders...

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March-April 2008 So Long Sore Shoulders!

Sat, 8 Mar 2008 09:38:33 -0500

Flexible ashtangis and other hatha yoga enthusiasts often suffer from dull, persistent pain at the fronts of the shoulders. Why? This type of soreness occurs when we overtax our shoulders in demanding poses such as chaturanga dandasana (four-limbed staff pose). If our shoulders are incorrectly positioned in such weight-bearing poses—and they often are—the tendons attaching the biceps to the fronts of the arm bones can be strained and may even begin to tear. The injury is a form of tendonitis called biceps tendonitis (Fig. 1). This, in turn, may put strain on the rotator cuff, the group of muscles and tendons that stabilize the shoulder. Here are some tips to help you protect your biceps, develop proper shoulder alignment, restore structural integrity to your shoulders, and perform poses like chaturanga and plank safely and effectively...

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http://www.doyoga.com/a_yp_articles/Y+3_08.pdf
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January-February 2008 Abs to the Rescue

Sat, 8 Mar 2008 08:54:23 -0500

Did you know that the abdominal muscles are designed to protect the lumbar spine against disk problems?

It’s a paradox then, that in our ab-obsessed culture, so many of us suffer from low back pain—and in particular, disk herniation among the lowest vertebrae. You might think that toning your abs would lead to fewer back problems, but unfortunately, that is often not the case. Sit-ups and related exercises strengthen only one set of abdominal muscles, the rectus abdominis, which have little to do with the health of your spine.

Although most yoga postures don’t emphasize exercising the abdominals exclusively, a number of asanas work the full set of your abdominals to stabilize and support your lumbar spine, thus preventing disk problems and other forms of lower back pain...

for the full article, click here
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http://www.doyoga.com/a_yp_articles/Y+1_08.pdf
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November — December 07: How to Heal (and Prevent) Shoulder Injuries

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 09:20:31 -0500

Each time you lift your arms, your shoulder muscles — both big and small — initiate a dance full of subtle
nuance . The complex interaction of these muscles coupled with the unique structure of the shoulder joint, gives your arm a wide range of motion. In fact the shoulder is one of the loosest joints in the body.

But this freedom of movement comes at a price: shoulders are vulnerable to injury both from sudden falls and from repetitive action such as throwing a baseball. The muscles of the rotator cuff, the most delicate movers of the shoulders are particularly susceptible. But here s the good news: a regular, targeted asana
practice can help you maintain healthy rotator cuffs by bringing awareness to your alignment, strengthening your shoulder muscles, and opening your chest. And several of the poses described in the pages that follow can even encourage the healing of rotator cuffs if you've already injured them...

For the full article, click here

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http://www.doyoga.com/a_yp_articles/Y+11_07.pdf
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September — October 07: Sole Support — The Feet

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 17:10:59 -0400

In the Vedas, the feet are referred to as "organs of action." They are the body's foundation, structured to support
its weight and provide a mobile platform in a variety of terrains. Just imagine: if the foundation of a house is weak, the entire structure begins to creak and buckle. In the same way, a weak foundation in your feet creates problems in your legs, knees, hips, back, shoulders, and neck, causing muscle tension, postural imbalances, and fatigue.

According to ayurveda, reflexology, and
other ancient healing systems, your feet are
mirrors for the rest of the body. If you're
holding tension in your feet right now,
you're probably holding tension in other
parts of your body, too. And when your
feet are tired, your entire body is tired.
This explains, in part, why yoga practitioners devote so much attention to the position, alignment, and distribution of weight through the feet...

For the full article, click here
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http://www.doyoga.com/a_yp_articles/Y+9_07.pdf
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July — August 07: Yoga Therapy For Your Knees

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 16:38:54 -0400

If you have chronic pain in your knees, if they “snap, crackle, and pop” when you bend or extend them, or if they tend to hyperextend, you may have improper tracking or “dislocation” of the kneecap. This misalignment causes the most common kind of chronic knee pain and damage to the knee joint, which develop slowly over time.

Here’s a simple anatomy lesson: The kneecap is designed to slide along a groove in the femur, and it has to move smoothly within that groove to do its job well. If it goes “off track” (and it often does) it grinds away at the cartilage underneath and destabilizes the knee. The ensuing wear and tear is a key reason for knee replacement surgery, which a lot of people believe is necessary because they think the cartilage is “gone.”

But the truth is that cartilage can grow back, albeit slowly. The main problem is that if we don’t correct the imbalanced pull of muscles on the kneecap, we will continue to grind our cartilage down faster than our body can replenish it...

For the full article, click here ...
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http://www.doyoga.com/a_yp_articles/Y+7_07.pdf
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May-June 07: Lower Back Blues

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:39:44 -0400

Why do so many of us suffer from lower back pain? More often than not, it's because we spend most of our waking hours sitting-and that isn't healthy. One of the side effects of sitting all the time can be a shortened psoas muscle, which can pull on (and even twist) the spine, causing lower back pain. By working with this often overlooked muscle, we can undo a major cause of our discomfort.

Yoga is well suited to this task; but before we see what hatha has to offer, we need to know where the psoas is, what it does, and what problems it causes when it is tight or dysfunctional...

For the full article, click here
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March — April 07: Banish Back Pain

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 05:17:46 -0400

One of the most common problems my yoga students complain about is chronic pain around the shoulder blades
and in the upper back and neck. This kind of pain plagues those of us who work with our arms extended in front 01
us, whether we're typing on the computer, cooking, carrying children, lifting heavy objects, or washing dishes. Let' face it: that includes just about all of us. Because these activities are especially demanding on the arms, shoulders.
and upper back, it's not surprising that back pain is so widespread, even among the most dedicated yoga students.

Upper back pain commonly stems from
the tendency to slump in the spine and
round the shoulders. Slumping causes
the shoulder blades to slide away from
the spine, chronically overstretching and
weakening the muscles around them.
Eventually these muscles harden into
tough bands to protect themselves from
this constant strain. As they tire, these
weakened fibrous muscles go into spasm,
creating hot, persistent pains along the
edges of the shoulder blades and the sides
of the neck...

For the full article, click here
or copy and paste
http://www.doyoga.com/a_yp_articles/Y+3_07.pdf
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January — February 07: Healing (And Preventing) Wrist Injuries

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:17:38 -0400

Few things put the brakes on a yoga practice like a wrist injury. And though it may seem like the injury is the result of your practice, the cause actually lies in the imbalanced way we use our wrists in daily life. Once we become aware of these imbalances, asana practice can become a powerful tool for correcting them.

The health of our wrists depend s upon
the strength and (One of the muscles
on the tops and bottoms of our forearms, as well as upon how thought, fully we bear weight on our hands and wrists . Although damaging muscular tension comes from repetitive use, wrist injuries themselves are usually caused by the way we put weight upon our hands...

For the full article, click here
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http://www.doyoga.com/a_yp_articles/Y+1_07.pdf
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November-December 06: Healing Hamstring Injuries

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 20:00:36 -0400

Ask any room of yoga students whether they suffer from pain at one or both of their sit bones, and you can count on a showing of hands. This kind of pain comes from injury to the hamstring attachment. Of course, hamstring injuries are not unique to yoga, though the cause and treatment of this particular problem often is. The more dramatic hamstring tears occur in sports and especially while running, when athletes are tightly wound and move in sudden bursts that wrench and tear at the hamstrings, usually in the "belly," or middle part, of the muscle. In Yoga, the injury occurs in a different way and at a different place.

For people who practice yoga. hamstring injuries develop over time, usually where the hamstring attaches to the sit bone. This is a tendon injury. and unlike a muscle tear, it doesn't happen suddenly. Instead , it is "death by a thousand cuts": each tiny rip in the tendon is relatively minor by itself, but because it does not fully heal , repeated injuries accumulate
over time , until an ill-considered bit of overstretching or an overly aggressive adjustment from a teacher finally puts the injury over the edge...

For the full article, click here.
or copy and paste
http://www.doyoga.com/a_yp_articles/Y+11_06.pdf
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