Joints, Yoga, and Water: 

Helping your students enjoy the class and prevent injuries

Yoga is an excellent form of movement at any stage of life and for all body shapes; not only does it aids in mental health, but it has many other health benefits. In this short article, you will learn the benefits for the joint, muscles, and bones. We will also discuss some precautions when teaching students with joint disease. 

Some long-term health benefits of yoga for people with joint disease include reduced pain, improved joint flexibility and function, reduced pain perception, lower stress and tension to promote better sleep, and enhanced mental health.

Yoga involves many weight-bearing exercises that apply tension to muscles and bones. These exercises are excellent for strengthening bones and improving bone density over time. Yoga reduces muscle strain. Finally, yoga helps increase muscle flexibility and balance development, two essential attributes that help prevent falls, especially in older adults.

The most significant safety precaution for joint health is movement awareness. At times students might arrive tired, stressed out from their long day at work, eager to imitate the “teacher,” or sleepy in those early morning classes. The best thing you can do is help them develop an awareness of their movement patterns and body alignment. The first few cues you provide in your opening pose can help students become attentive to their bodies. Also, you start to model safe movements when laying your mat on the ground. 

Using a belly breathing technique, you can help your students bring their senses and mind into the present movement. Aromatherapy can help students come into the present moment and disconnect from the world’s noise. Also, aromatherapy has been found to reduce the perception of nociceptive pain (pain caused by damage to body tissues). Scents like lavender, sesame, bergamot, and ginger can help your class participants reduce their pain experience.

Another practice to add at the beginning of the class might be a body scan. This mind-body connection exercise can help develop an awareness of the body in terms of space, the sensations and signals the body provides to the person, and how to honor these. It can help renegotiate the nervous system’s response to stress, traumas, injuries, and illnesses. 

There are different joint diseases; some are inflammatory, like rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and others can be injury-related, yet other people can have genetic conditions and hypermobility. Safety precautions in each population are different. For people with active joint inflammation, a slower class, with props and support to joints, might be more beneficial than a powerful flow. Also, supporting joints, for example, using knee pads and reminding participants not to look at the joints. A structural yoga therapy study conducted in 2006 showed people with moderate-to-severe RA should avoid high-intensity exercise, prolonged weight-bearing, prolonged immobility poses, and stretching past the comfortable endpoint of range of motion. Athletes are at increased risk of injury since they engage in activities that augment their chance of injury and use muscle groups repeatedly. Helping athletes balance the strength of the less used muscle and increasing the flexibility of those mainly used can help them prevent injuries. For students with hypermobile joints, when you invite them to poses that bear weight in joints like elbows, shoulders, or knees, instruct them to keep a slight bend in the joints. Since their connective tissues are already more mobile, building strong muscles is a good priority in this population; for example, with a power flow, stretch to 80% of their natural capacity and consider adding weights or blocks to build muscle strength. Remember that students with hypermobility are at greater risk of injury. It helps them control their mobility while increasing dynamic strength for a healthier life. 

Scientific studies have shown that yoga is beneficial for those living with arthritis. A study conducted at Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center showed that for people with arthritis who are sedentary, yoga appears to be safe, feasible, and enjoyable for people with either rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. Patients who engaged in yoga as an exercise also reported improvements in positive affect, perceived stress, and pain. Furthermore, after completing the intervention, a follow-up study also found improved balance, functional reach, upper body function, and reduced pain. Yet, in another study published in Rheumatic Disease Clinics of North America, authors found critical evidence for reducing disease symptoms (tender/swollen joints, pain) and disability. It also demonstrated improved self-efficacy and mental health. People with pain might be afraid to move or exercise; sharing these benefits and safety precautions before the class can help reduce their fear and anxiety, thus enjoying your class even more. 

Students with arthritis should consider a yoga class inside a heated pool. The warm water will help reduce inflammation and joint strains while increasing muscle mass. Aqua Yoga is effective in rehabilitating injured parts, even for solid athletes. Immersing the body in water helps decrease gravity’s effect and improves alignment. Aqua Yoga reduces pain, allowing more range of movement, strengthening the muscles, and improving the balance and performance of the injured part. Clinical results show that athletes participating in water rehabilitation and land-based post-rehabilitation have better scores on postural control, indicating better balance and reducing the risk of falling outside the water. Thus, some athletes might recuperate faster from their injuries. 

Aqua yoga can be a good alternative for people living with arthritis, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, muscular dystrophy, and those that underwent hip and or knee replacements. Yoga in the water can also benefit people with problems with balance or chronic back pain due to disc disease or sciatic nerve pain.

If you read this article, it is because you are either a yoga instructor or practice yoga. You might have discovered the many health benefits of yoga. Still, you were curious if people with joint disease could participate safely in a yoga class, since there is still skepticism about yoga being beneficial to this population in Western countries. Helping your clients feels safe should be your number one goal, then helping them become aware of how their body is moving and if a form/posture feels honoring to their current health state. Please take out your yoga props and oils, and let’s breathe and move together! Finally, ending your class with a body-focused gratitude practice can help patients shift their focus from pain to the blessings they still have in their physical bodies. Choose a blessing to give your students and perhaps even pray that your oils and hands be healing instruments of God.