Overview
This is a balancing pose which strengthens the core muscles (abdominal and back), arms and leg muscles.
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Joint Actions
Muscular Actions
About
This is a non-profit resource aimed at equipping physiotherapists who are non-yoga practitioners with the knowledge to understand the specific involvement of each anatomical structure necessary to achieve a certain yoga pose (asana). The intention is to enhance accuracy in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of yoga-related injuries.
As such, this resource may enable physiotherapists to:
1) identify contributing factors limiting a person’s ability to perform specific asanas, such as deficits in the respective physiological structures,
2) guide patients on safely attempting poses e.g. strengthening the weak psoas major to perform a crow pose,
3) provide education on injury prevention.
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As advocates for exercise, physiotherapists may also recommend yoga to people who are reluctant to participate in conventional forms of exercise, as it has been found to be a useful engagement strategy for exercise adherence (Ussher et al., 2007)
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Acknowledging that yoga is both a physical and meditative/spiritual practice, for the purpose of this resource, the focus will purely be on the physical and anatomical aspects of yoga.
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Contents
Utilising this resource
The postures are categorised based on anatomical focus i.e. lower limb, upper limb, balancing, back bends. This way, you may search for poses that you think may be beneficial in the treatment of your patient e.g. a balancing pose such as warrior 3 may be beneficial for your patient who would like to improve their balance. If you are looking for the information of a specific pose, you may search it up directly in the search bar.
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Due to the nature of yoga practice where postures are static i.e. held for a period of time, muscular contraction in these postures is isometric. Therefore, this resource will describe muscular contractions in the following terms: engaged, engaged in a lengthened position, passively lengthened.
Concentric and eccentric actions are required in the process of coming into a posture. However, the possible starting positions from which one may comes into one posture are so numerous and diverse, that it is not in the scope of this resource.
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This resource will focus on detailing the following:
1) Joint actions
2) Muscular structures involved in relation to the joint action, categorised as either
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Engaged
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Engaged in a lengthened position
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Passively lengthened
3) Nerves which may be aggravated through neural tension
4) Precautions and contraindications
Background
Yoga & Injuries
Many studies report yoga to be safe when performed correctly (Cramer et al., 2015). However, yoga in careful and structured experimental conditions is vastly different from the reality of unstandardized practice and quality in recreational studios or at home. Like any physical activity, injuries could occur. The importance of safe practice is emphasized in a prospective cohort study, which reported 10.7% of the 354 participants experiencing musculoskeletal pain from practicing yoga. More than a third of them had symptoms so severe it lasted over three months or decreased activity participation. None of the risk factors at baseline (e.g. experience, age, intensity) increased the risk for pain, indicating that anyone could sustain injuries from yoga (Campo, Shiyko & Kean, 2017).
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It may be argued that this resource is not necessary as injury prevention in the practice of yoga should be within the scope of yoga teachers. However, while a good yoga teacher should have the knowledge and skills to guide students with appropriate adaptations, this is limited not only to in-class sessions, but also a teacher’s expertise (Stephens, 2017). Furthermore, many people are starting to take their practice at home. The DOYOU Global Yoga Survey (2016), which surveyed more than 10,000 people from 147 countries, reported that 46% of respondents did so (Hunsberger, n.d.). This could not only lead to a growing number of injuries from yoga, but also indicates a need for physiotherapist guidance.