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…
- When in doubt, sit it out. It’s not worth getting reinjured. Be smart and be present.
- Use blocks and straps.
- No deep knee bends.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 |
