•  Open Member's Diary

February 7, 2011 at 7:00am

Received an inquiry about yoga for a teen with JRA needing joint strength and stability: what types of yoga should she do and not do. My recommendations:

*the yoga 'industry' is really pushing 'workout' style classes like vinyasa and hot yoga ... in my opinion, these are very advanced classes and require ample experience as well as mental maturity (doing it for the right reason and also developing kinesthetic awareness to avoid acute/chronic injuries) ... far too many people are doing these classes without the right level of fitness and experience

*with JRA, i believe one needs to be mindful to not generate inflammation hence avoidance of lots of friction in the joints - i learned in kinesiology courses that exercises that involve isometric contractions are more ideal for those with JRA (contracting muscles without shortening of muscles versus isotonic - muscles shorten and joint motion occurs)

**my recommendations since the focus for her needs to be joint stability while retaining mobility (and reduced inflammation):

-avoid hot yoga and vinyasa flows ... although vigorous and strengthening, there is too much heat and sheer forces generated in joints - as well, these require a significant amount of time for foundation building to perform with integrity and mindfulness

-avoid yin yoga ... although very static and controlled, these flows can be very deep into connective tissues and make issues of joint laxity worse ... there is usually little to no application of strength conditioning in these flows which is opposite to what she needs

-avoid kundalini ... again, often incorporates many rapid movements that could be contraindicating

-I would direct her to beginner/moderate hatha classes - as a beginner/moderate level class, the teachers 'should' be mindful that the majority of people have limited flexibility - therefore the emphasis will be on mild to moderate stretching combined with slow moving or static yoga poses ... many hatha teachers enjoy adding static strengthening poses to warm the body (versus vinyasa teachers that utilize flowing sun salutations) ... by doing hatha, she will develop a foundation of understanding poses and breath, will be slow enough for her to listen to her body and make necessary modifications, will not be so advanced in terms of flexibility as to be counterproductive in controlling laxity, many strength poses are held longer than vinyasa classes so these poses will be more isometric in nature versus isotonic

an example of an appropriate style of class that offers conditioning:
http://www.myyogaonline.com/videos/yoga/flowing-from-the-core

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