Yoga with Health Concerns and Injuries

Having a long-term health condition is not a barrier to taking part in our yoga classes.

In every class there will be people who have health concerns so, although you won’t know who they are, you won’t be alone.

Before your first class you will be asked to complete a health questionnaire. This will help us to advise on any precautions associated with your condition and/or medication. There might be some poses or breathing practices that are not recommended, but we will always have an alternative for you.

We will encourage you to find out what works for you, and what doesn’t. Learning to make appropriate choices in class for your own body is an important part of the practice.

We teach you not the medical condition.

Movement is medicine

Along with other lifestyle interventions and pharmacological treatments, yoga can help to prevent long-term conditions from developing further, and can improve your symptoms and quality of life.

We are able to support you if you have one, or more, of the following conditions:

  • Hypertension (high blood pressure)

  • Diabetes Type I and II

  • Osteopenia and risk of Osteoporosis

  • Respiratory conditions such as asthma and early-stage COPD

  • Hypercholesterolemia (high blood cholesterol)

  • Musculoskeletal conditions such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, low back pain and joint replacement

  • Mental health conditions (mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression)

  • Overweight

Some of our teachers have specific, additional qualifications to work 1-2-1 with these conditions.

Injuries

An injury is some kind of damage to the structure of your body - such as a break, fracture or other issue with a bone or joint, or when the soft tissues of the body (ligaments, muscles, tendons) have gone beyond their limits. All of these will trigger an inflammatory response in the body in order to start to heal the injury.

Very recent soft tissue injuries should be rested, at least for a few days. When you resume, you should stay within a pain-free range of movement. You should never be in pain during yoga.

Be guided by the principle of do no harm.

Absolute Contraindications

For your own safety, there are some health conditions which we cannot accommodate until they are stable and being successfully managed. These include:

  • Significant changes in resting ECG

  • Recent myocardial infarction (heart attack) or other acute cardiac event

  • Symptomatic severe aortic stenosis

  • Acute pulmonary embolus or pulmonary infarction

  • Acute myocarditis or pericarditis

  • Suspected or known dissecting aortic aneurysm

  • Resting systolic blood pressure at or above 180 mm/Hg / DBP 100 mm/Hg

  • Uncontrolled or unstable angina

  • Unstable or acute heart failure

  • Acute uncontrolled psychiatric illness

  • New or uncontrolled arrhythmias

  • Rapidly progressing terminal illness

  • Experiences significant drop in BP during activity

  • Uncontrolled resting tachycardia at or above 100bpm

  • Fever

  • Experience of pain or dizziness during activity

  • Recent surgery where the consultant has not given permission for physical activity to resume

  • Any other unstable or uncontrolled condition

These conditions will need specialist and/or clinical supervision.