Tag: yoga

Weeks 1-6 Yoga Modifications and Why

Over the past week I was able to take 4 hot yoga classes.  I modified heavily and still felt like I was getting a solid practice in. Being constantly focused on how each muscle movement impacts my weight distribution, where my center of gravity is, was, and is shifting towards absolutely brings a new level of being present in my practice. There is no autopilot. No cruise control. Nothing but what I am doing at this very moment. I want to capture this awareness and bring it to my practice forever. It’s a whole new level.

DISCLAIMER : Having a regular Yoga practice for the past several years including teaching for several years has given me a solid base to work from. Please assume that you know half as much as you think you do and that you should modify twice as much as you want to.

I plan on reviewing this with my ortho tomorrow to get his feedback. I’ll update with his feedback.

How I modified the postures and why…

  1. When in doubt, sit it out. It’s not worth getting reinjured. Be smart and be present.
  2. Use blocks and straps.
  3. No deep knee bends.
  4. No weight allowed on the injured leg. Any posture that normally would use both legs, like standing (tadasana), down dog (adho mukha svanasana), chair pose (utkatasana),  I would support myself on my good leg and use a “toe tap” weight on my injured leg.
  5. Don’t pull on feet, ankles, or shins on the injured leg. Pull on hamstrings instead. I am still able to get the hip opening benefits, however there is no knee pressure.
  6. Balancing postures which leverage one leg, I would stand on healthy leg as normal UNLESS THERE WAS RISK OF FALLING AND NEEDING THE INJURED LEG TO CATCH MYSELF.  This includes Eagle, Warrior 3, Balancing Half moon. When completing the asana on the injured leg rotate in space 90 degrees and complete laying on back.
  7. Sometimes just do the posture on the same side twice.

 

Asana

Healthy Knee Leg

Injured Knee Leg
Eagle No Change Horizontal
Pigeon Figure 4 Figure 4 – No torque
Down Dog Full weight healthy leg No Weight
Upward Facing Dog

Chatarunga

 Full weight healthy leg Hook ankle of injured leg over good ankle
Crescent Lunge

Runner Lunge

Warrior 1

Warrior 2

Peaceful Warrior

Triangle Pose

Side angle Pose

Runners Lunge Twist

 Injured knee forward, kneeling

 

 Injured knee forward, kneeling

 

Day 7 – Independence Day – 4th of July

Being able to move and breath and be sweaty are amazing gifts. I was able to make it to a hot flow class at the Cary location and squeezed in at the last minute. As it takes me 50% longer to do anything now, I was running late to class and then realized that I had left my compression knee sleeve at home drying. Quickly stopping at Walgreens I picked up another one like this one from Mueller.  It’s cheap and provides compression which the PT said would be good to get the swelling down. Get the bad stuff out he said and it will make room for the good blood to circulate and heal. Also having an extra brace is probably good because my yoga gear can get funky smelling and giving it a full chance to dry will help with that.

Anyways, I made it to class on time and got to take from one of my favorite teachers, Justin Ann. Her husband was there also working the front desk and it’s always a pick me up to see them. Love those guys.

Her classes are good and flowing for about 40 minutes of the 60 minute classes. The other 20 minutes are a good warm up and cool down which helps the practice feel complete. And she’s funny. Read her studio bio here and sign up for one of her classes if you are in Raleigh area.

The class itself was good. I will do a follow up post for the modifications that I did, but I was able to do about 80-85% of the class. My hamstrings are tighter than they normally are and my lower back wanted to pop so bad on reclining spine twists. I felt good on the mat. The heat is magical and we are meant to sweat.

My injury is a challenge for sure, however that shouldn’t prevent me from challenging myself even more. I’m paying respect to my knee and the space it needs to heal and at the same time not just using that as an excuse. My other knee is healthy. So is my back, arms, chest, shoulders, and brain. I’ve been using the free time that I have now to read more. I have a couple books that I am really enjoying and I’ll post about them as I get closer to finishing them. #spoileralert

The night was spent watching fireworks from Oak City Brewing in Knightdale and enjoying the summer. I felt good from the yoga and the days events. It was the best day since surgery and better than what my average day looked like 15 years ago when I didn’t take ownership for my wellness.