Posts from ‘yoga therapy’
Illustration by Bob Al-Greene, via greatist.com
Get ready: the great yoga injuries conversation has risen from the ashes. The great debate was initially ignited in early 2012 after an infamous article in the New York Times, “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body.” In the past few months, we’ve seen a new rash of articles and blog posts from author William Broad, in support of the paperback version of his book, The Science of Yoga. This was followed by a rebuttal of some of Broad’s claims by Timothy McCall, M.D., Yoga Journal’s medical editor.
While some believe that the yoga community has actually benefited from increased dialogue about the dark side of the practice, the great debate has left many practitioners, and teachers, confused about what is safe and unsafe. Yoga U Online, an educational resource for yoga teachers and therapist, is attempting to open the conversation even more with a free online telesummit, April 10-14.
In advance of this event, Yoga U Online’s Eva Norlyk Smith interviewed Dr. McCall about the complexities of the yoga injury debate, and how to discern fact from fiction. Here is an excerpt from their conversation, originally published on the Huffington Post.
Eva Norlyk Smith: You yourself have been writing about yoga injuries and how to prevent them for years. So why the strong reaction to the claims made in the New York Times articles and the accompanying book?
Dr. Timothy McCall: While the coverage in the New York Times has been overly sensational, all the controversy it generated got the yoga community talking about the risk of injuries and how they can be lessened, and that’s a good thing. As with any other serious physical activity yoga, of course, can lead to injuries. But Broad goes out of his way to argue that yoga is a particularly risky — and even sometimes deadly — and that this has long been the dirty little secret of the yoga community. Continue Reading
So this was it, the final weekend of re:source‘s yoga therapy teacher training (YTTT) program! The seven month journey, guided by the irreplacable Carina Raisman, has come to a close. But it’s not over yet – while the 200 hours of classroom training is complete, there still remain another 100 hours of workshops, case studies and clinic work to finish up before I can call myself a real yoga therapist.
The weekend module focused on bodywork and solidifying everything we’d learned in the training. We reviewed the previous six modules: Anatomy, Posture Correction, Physiology, Immunology, Pranayama/Chakras and Meditation/Mentality. The 10 students in the group were asked to articulate what we remembered, what we learned and what stood out for us.
Along with reviewing material and listening to final presentations (we were asked to pick an imbalance or body part to focus on for our case studies; mine was yoga for arthritis), we studied a bodywork technique called Manipulations. This method of manual joint release was founded by Butoh dancer Min Tanaka, which he adapted from a massage technique developed by Chinese acrobats. The Manipulations technique has seven variations and is used as a warm-up for Butoh dance. Continue Reading
Albert Lee practicing Thai massage in his Montreal studio (image by http://mohamed-hamad.com/)
Thai massage therapist Albert Lee’s Montreal home and practice space has a special touch. His clean, orderly and minimalist apartment looks over a quiet residential street. His massage space is a double room typical of the neighbourhood, and is adorned with Buddha statues, candles and pictures of his teachers. Like the space he lives and works in, Lee is bright and warm.
He serves up a delicious coconut green tea and prepares to tell me about Thai massage, often known as “Thai Yoga Massage.” And I get the opportunity to ask a question I’ve long wondered: what does a massage technique from Thailand have to do with yoga?
“The massage technique came from India, not Thailand,” Albert tells me. “It was founded by Jīvaka Komarabhācca, who was said to be the Buddha’s physician. He was an Ayurvedic physician and yogic master, and with his knowledge of Ayurveda and yoga, he came up with this form of bodywork that is closely related to both of these traditions.” Continue Reading
With her background in dance and massage therapy, Ellen Saltonstall has an innovative and multifaceted approach to therapeutic yoga. The New York-based instructor has extensive training in Iyengar and Anusara Yoga, and she specializes in anatomy and therapeutics, of which she is a life-long student. She has also been practicing and teaching Kinetic Awareness, a method of self-care using rubber balls to massage tight areas of the body, for over 30 years. Ellen has published two books with Dr. Loren Fishman, Yoga for Arthritis and Yoga for Osteoporosis, and has several other books in process.
In this audio conversation, we discuss the different modalities in her yoga “toolbox,” how yoga – particularly, proper alignment – can be beneficial for arthritis, and the unique responsibilities of the yoga therapist.
Ellen Saltonstall will be in Montreal for a weekend workshop, Yoga for You: Customize Your Practice with Tools for Healing, March 22 – 24 at Shri Yoga.
Kim McNeil in action (image via kimmcneilyoga.com)
Over 4.6 million Canadians are affected by arthritis, an autoimmune disease which inflames and affects joints, tendons and cartilage throughout the body. Kim McNeil, a Calgary-based yoga teacher and therapist, has dedicated her teaching and practice to working with people living with arthritis.
In this audio conversation, we discuss the different types of arthritis and why yoga is such a powerful tool for coping with the disease.
If you’re interested in helping out, contribute to or be a part of Power of Movement, an annual yoga fundraiser for arthritis on March 3, 2013.
