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BKS Iyengar Yoga

LouiseW
  • By LouiseW
  • Posted October 28, 2009 at 5:13 pm · 15 replies
  • In Exercise
  • Shared with the public
0 Recommendations

Most physicians as well as alternative medicine providers have not recommended yoga as a form of treatment for Osteoporosis. However, I have found BKS Iyengar Medical Yoga to be outstanding. It is doing yoga with props. It is almost like a form of physical therapy.

Before I started doing Iyengar yoga I was told to stop doing any form of yoga. Then when I spent 5 weeks at KARE Ayurveda Health Retreat Centre in India to reverse my osteoporisis naturally, Iyengar yoga was part of the therapy. I continue it today no matter where I am located.

Would love to discuss this with anyone interested.

Explore topics in this discussion:

Exercise Osteopenia Arthritis Confusion Fractures Osteoporosis Osteoarthritis Physical therapy

15 replies

esbest

Is this offered in the US? I love yoga, and do all poses, but think I should be more careful since I have osteoporosis. I'm very healthy and muscular, so I think I can do any poses. No classes around here are "bone safe" - it's up to me to figure out what to do /what not to do in the classes. I'm doing more weight lifting now until I figure this out. Thanks.

LouiseW

Where in New York are you? Iyengar Yoga is taught around the globe but there are very few certified in Iyengar Medical Yoga. But if they are good, they will most likely know the poses best suited for you. Just take it easy. I know of one person in Sligo PA who teaches Iyengar Medical Yoga. How far are you from there?

esbest

I'm in Westchester County, NY, hour from NYC. Weight lifting is supposed to be the best exercise for Osteoporosis, but Yoga is great along with that - I need to do it! Facing a compromise in the postures is tough - I'm avoiding going to class until I have xrays next week and find out the scoop from a dr.

pgreene

I just started a yoga class about 6 weeks ago but I'm not sure what type it is. It is taught by a 58-year-old nurse that likes to teach yoga to people with various health problems. I do not do the movements that involve twisting or bending because I can't do them. I am fused from T4 to my sacrum with screws into my pelvis as well. I can only hip hinge but I love trying to touch my toes. I am working hard to get my hip flexors and hamstrings stretched out. My favorite pose is chavasana and we learned tree pose last night. I love learning the poses that will help me tremendously to improve my balance.

lilrayosun

Hey, esbest:

There's a woman named Ellen Saltonstall who teaches therapeutic yoga in NYC. Website at: http://www.mohiniyoga.com/

She helped design a study program at Columbia with Dr. Loren Fishman that was very successful in reversing osteoporosis. If you're up to a trip to the city, maybe give her a shot. I think she'd be a very capable, trustworthy instructor. I assume she does one-on-one work as well, but don't know for sure. She's written a book called "Yoga for Osteoarthritis" and has a new one coming out in March 2010 called "Yoga for Osteoporosis."

You could also check with the Iyengar Institute in NYC and see if they have a list of instructors who specialize in yoga for osteoporosis sufferers.

Best,
Raye

LouiseW

I can totally understand that you would want to wait until you have x-rays to learn the status of your spine before starting anything new.

One other exercise tool I use is the OsteoBall. It was developed by Dr. Swezey in Santa Monica California. It seems to be a good tool. I take it with me wherever I go around the world. Look up www.bonefitness.com.

I found that lifting weights is not good for someone with severe osteoporosis unless the spine is supported in all sets of exercise. Most gyms do not know how to do the right exercises to protect from getting compression fractures.

SaraMeeks

It is possible to modify Yoga for osteoporosis and I teach a workshop for the public at Kripalu Center every other year in May on just this topic. Unfortunately, turnout has been low so I go there only once a year.
However, I have some Yoga teachers trained in my SAFE Yoga postures and could communicate with anyone about this if I am contacted privately at sara@sarameekspt.com.
The program by Loren Fishman, although it has shown some benefits, does include bending and other movements that might be contraindicated.
Shavasana and Tree are certainly safe and therapeutic poses and there are more than that. One needs to be aware and knowledgeable in Yoga classes--it is possible to do safe Yoga but one needs to know what to do and what not to do--not all programs that say they are safe are actually safe.
Restorative medical Yoga should be fairly safe but I'm not familiar enough with it to comment.

SuzaFrancina

Thanks for starting a discussion on Iyengar Yoga. My experience has been that all Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher are trained in modifying and adapting yoga to the needs of the individual, including those with health issues such as osteoporis.

I'm not aware of certification in "Iyengar Medical Yoga." I'm wondering if you meant to say "trained in the medical or therapeutic applications of yoga?" I'm curious so will go to the National Iyengar Yoga website to research when I have time.

I'm reading a pre publication copy of "Yoga for Osteoporosis," by Loren Fishman MD, and Ellen Saltonstall. I highly recommend it -- as well as their previous book, "Yoga for Arthritis."

"Yoga for Osteoporosis," shows three variations for each pose: Osteoporosis Variation; Osteopenia Variation; and Prevention Variation.

In addition, the Contraindications for each pose and it's variations is clearly stated.

Best of all, the purpose of the pose as it relates to building a healthy skeletal stucture is explained, along with helpful medical drawings, MRI's, photographs and drawings of Correct and Incorrect forward bends and other moves.

I look forward to posting a more extensive review of "Yoga for Osteoporosis," as part of my series on "Yoga for Healthy Bones," (links on profile page and my website below).

It would be great if all these related discussions and entries on yoga and therapeutic exercise with Sara Meeks and other experts could be linked somehow. (Or maybe they are, but I haven't figured it out yet.)

Suza Francina
Certified Iyengar Yoga Insructor
www.SuzaFrancina.com
Iyengar Yoga National Asociation of the United States
www.iynaus.org

lilrayosun

Hey, Sara:

It's great that you have a list of qualified yoga instructors. And I'll have to look for your next Kripalu workshop, as I could easily hop over! But I do want to jump in and correct some misinformation here.

As someone who is currently taking part in Dr. Fishman's latest study, I promise you there is absolutely no forward flexion at all.

I think the confusion arises because in the photos from the previous study, three levels are shown (poses for those interested in prevention, those with osteopenia, and those with osteoporosis). Each level has a different version/modification of the classical pose. So while someone who is interested in preventing osteoporosis might be doing the classic pose with forward flexion, rotation, what have you, a person who has osteoporosis is given a version of the pose (and suggested props) which allows them to get the benefits without bending forward.

For example: Downward Facing Dog. Someone who is interested in preventing osteoporosis -- who absolutely does not have osteopenia OR osteoporosis -- would do the full version of the pose, with possible modifications for tight hamstrings, etc.

Someone with osteopenia would NOT do the full version of the pose, but would (for lack of a better term), hip hinge into table top position using a wall or a table as support for the upper body.

Someone with osteoporosis doesn't bend over at all.

It's difficult to describe, but basically it looks like you're sitting in a chair and hinging forward from the hips, fingertips reaching upwards towards a spot high on a wall, spine elongated and straight. And in this go-round of the study, the downward facing dog pose has been eliminated completely! The postures are all standing postures and seated postures (and for those with osteoporosis, the standing postures are often modified to be seated postures, so that you have the support of a chair). There is some mild spinal rotation, but only when the spine is completely erect, and again, the types of rotation are modified based on your BMD status.

It feels (to my body) very safe.

Oh, and to be clear, the classes with Ellen Saltonstall -- Dr. Fishman isn't connected to those. She teaches a therapeutic yoga class on her own, and her bio says she's a certified therapeutics yoga instructor. She did help design the yoga programs for Dr. Fishman's study. But her class and the study are two separate things.

But I'm glad you've got bunches of other names, too. The more, the merrier (bone-ier?). What would we do without you?!

Best,
Raye

SuzaFrancina

PS I should clarify that even though Certified Iyengar Yoga teachers are trained in modifying and adapting poses for people with health issues, that does not guarantee the safety of group classes, especially not large group classes.

As Sara Meeks points out, even the best trained teachers may not be specifically educated in yoga for those who already have osteoporosis. Teaching people with serious health conditions, especially older people, takes tremendous patience and a wilingness to err on the side of caution!

SuzaFrancina

PPS I just now read Raye's Post, sandwiched in between mine. We must have crossed in cyberspace.

I will go back and read all Comments more carefully second round. Very interesting to read Raye's experience!

bebesmom

So, for a person with osteopenia, even if I have no problem with flexibility and the downward dog (which I do as a normal part of my gym stretch after exercise) - I should not be doing this? I actually do several twisting stretches as well. Your thoughts? Does it depend on the degree of osteopenia? Thanks.

sdivas

LouiseW, you may be interested in previous discussions about the OsteoBall. Please place Osteoball in Search and past discussion posts will come up. Thanks. Sandi

LouiseW

Bebesmom...I am not a yoga teacher nor am I physician, but I was told to stop yoga...stop lifting anything more than 5 pounds and do very little weight lifting. This left me pretty immobile. That is when I found the OsteoBall, which has helped...but when I went to KARE in India I was shocked to be told by a physician that I must do yoga.

There I met BKS Iyengar and he explained to me why we must do yoga. I will see if I can find his quote and post it.

You are lucky that you are not in osteoporosis as yet. Do your best to reverse it. Read Better Bones, Better Health by Dr. Susan Brown. It changed my life. I stopped coffee, tea, and started eating an alkaline diet. I test my urine daily to make sure I am alkaline...to maintain alkaline one must eat more fruits and vegetables and stop eating red meat.

Good luck.

SuzaFrancina

bebesmom, Downward Facing Dog Pose is a key weight bearing pose for helping to prevent osteoporosis. I devote an entire chapter to it in my book, "The New Yoga for People Over 50." Even my 94-year old students practice from the floor or variations with hands high up the wall or on a chair.

I highly recommend learning this pose under the guidance of an instructor trained in alignment based yoga such as Iyengar or Anusara. The majority of students new to my classes need to learn how to lift the pelvis and lengthen the spine. Most people place their hands and feet too close together, which tends to shorten the spine -- not good for anyone but especially not for those with osteo. There are many other adjustments that should be made for this pose to be safe long-term. I will explain more in my forthcoming review of Dr. Fishman's book on "Yoga for Osteoporosis."

(There are photo links of Dog Pose with hands on chair in my entries on Yoga for Healty Bones. Click on my name or website below.)

www.SuzaFrancina.com

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