Yoga teachers: Have you upped your commitment to working with people who have injuries or conditions? This is how you can reach new, loyal clients and provide vital, measurable benefits to our world.
Be up and running by next month.
Contents
Yoga Teachers, Yoga Therapists
How You Can Help the World Right Now: Focus in on One Target Condition
Additional Opportunities for Trainings, Courses, etc.
Injuries & Conditions
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Yoga Teachers, Yoga Therapists
Foundations
If you’re a yoga therapist, you’re already well-versed in how to support clients with injuries and conditions.
If you’re a yoga teacher, you’re likely experienced in supporting students with injuries and conditions to adapt their practice. If you’re not, then presumably you agree that’s a top priority. I hope you have a mentor you can look to while using our accessible, practical, progressive support here. I recommend beginning with:
Lifelong Upleveling
Both yoga therapists and yoga teachers have a never-ending opportunity for growth in their knowledge and skills, and we provide extensive continuing education and research support here.
The materials are organized in a way that you can self-direct. You’ll always find context (critical for real-world applicability) and the ability to dig deep, opening up vast, practical resources for whatever topic you’re focused on.
How You Can Help the World Right Now: Focus in on One Target Condition
If you’re a relatively new yoga teacher or you don’t have a fair amount of experience adapting yoga techniques for various needs, then this section isn’t for you. Please see Foundations and Lifelong Upleveling above.
If you’ve been adapting techniques for some time, then I urge you to consider focusing in on an injury or condition that you’ve either personally experienced or you’ve worked a fair amount with. It could be anxiety, arthritis, cancer, knee issues, seizures, sleep issues or any of many dozens of issues.* (*See also: Injuries & Conditions near the end of this post.)
Here’s what I hope you’ll then do:
Clarify scope of practice. — If you’re a yoga therapist, you’re thoroughly familiar with your scope of practice. If you’re a yoga teacher, recognize that yoga therapists and other providers are trained in working one-on-one with clients and providing individualized plans designed to achieve particular outcomes. That’s not a yoga teacher’s role. However, yoga teachers are not only able to — but are expected to — adapt yoga techniques to support students with various conditions. This same model of adaptation is applied in workshops where you have multiple students with the same condition. You’re not endeavoring to heal anyone; you’re not going to teach yoga “for” anxiety or migraines but you can indeed provide thoughtful, evidence-based support for students who have those conditions and can benefit by yoga techniques.
Review self-study materials for the targeted condition. — Study the condition and related yoga considerations here. Take note of the research that shows yoga’s impact. Review contraindications and evidence of yoga techniques that support students with those conditions. You will then either feel confident that you do indeed know how to safely and effectively teach students with that condition, or you’ll know where you’re lacking.
If you need the help of someone else, reach out to that person now. — Contact a yoga therapist, physical therapist, trauma specialist, coach, women’s health specialist, or whatever fellow colleague has the missing piece you need. Arrange for partnership or guidance.
Plan a class, workshop or series. — Our materials make this much easier and presumably your confidence will soar. You can use the methodical step-by-step process we use in lessons, get sample sequences, pose adaptations, meditations, etc. Beyond the teacher education materials for many dozens of conditions, we offer workshop toolkits and handouts on some subjects and are happy to custom-design more if you need.
Invite potential clients. — Maybe your first offering has only a few students. Then you will help a few people; what’s more valuable than that? And you’ll gain invaluable experience and have satisfied clients and testimonials to share with more potential clients.
Note: I specialize in research and continuing education on not only yoga teaching but on health and wellness as a whole. As a result, I’m very tapped into the current and evolving state of the wellness landscape. Reams of evidence make me believe that there has never been a more opportune time for you to serve in the way I’m suggesting above.
Additional Opportunities for Trainings, Courses, etc.
If you are a teacher trainer or would like to teach courses that include manuals, see here for free samples of customizable content for trainings, courses, workshops, series, and consultations and here for Associate pricing.
Injuries & Conditions
Memberships as low as $19/month include sitewide access including the Diseases & Conditions Glossary. In addition to precise definitions, each condition is indexed, providing instant access to deep contextual support.
The glossary has 285 entries, from Addison’s disease and ADHD to cramp and chronic traumatic encephalopathy; from hernia and herniated disk to Parkinson’s disease and patello-femoral syndrome (PFS); from sarcopenia and sciatica to wear-and-tear arthritis and Willis-Ekbom disease.
Having this glossary on hand is invaluable for evaluating research, medical communications, client comments, and more.
It includes dozens of words that are synonymous names for the same condition, helping us all to overcome an unnecessary but common problem in improving comprehension and communication.
An introduction to the glossary explains that conditions may be considered based on their relationship to various systems of the body:
And you’ll find examples of conditions categorized by physiological system, which can pave the way for more ease in learning about and thinking about various conditions. For example:
Musculoskeletal
Adhesive Capsulitis
Biceps Tendonitis
Bone Fracture or Weakness
Bone Spurs
Bulging Disc
Cervical Radiculopathy
Edema
Frozen Shoulder Syndrome
Hernia
Herniated Disc
Hyperlordosis
Kyphosis
Low Back Pain
Muscle Loss, Rehab after Illness or Injury
OPLL
Osteoarthritis
Osteoporosis
Pinched Nerve
Rotator Cuff Injuries
Sarcopenia
Sciatica
Scoliosis
SI Joint Issues
Spinal Stenosis
Spondy Conditions
Sprains, Strains, Tendonitis
Thoracic Outlet
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
TMJ
Cardiovascular, Circulatory System
“Cardiovascular disease” is an umbrella term for conditions related to the heart and circulatory system. “Heart disease” is another “catch-all phrase” for conditions that affect the heart. [source]
Arrhythmia, A Fib
Atherosclerosis (Clogged Arteries)
Congestive Heart Failure (Heart Failure)
Dysautonomia, Cardiac
Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction)
Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)
Hypotension (Low Blood Pressure)
Myocarditis, Pericarditis
Pelvic Congestion Syndrome
POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)
Raynaud’s Phenomenon
Stroke
Thrombosis (Blood Clot)
Varicose Veins
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