Yoga for Arthritis
There are many different kinds of arthritis. Today I’m going to talk about how yoga can help if you have osteoarthritis (OA), which is the wear-and-tear kind that can affect the joints in the back, neck, hips, fingers and knees. A healthy joint has a well-lubricated lining of cartilage that allows bones to slide smoothly over each other. With OA, that protective cartilage has been damaged and worn down, allowing bone to rub on bone, which is painful.
Misalignment of bones, dysfunctional movement patterns, lack of body awareness, and poor posture are all factors than can cause wear and tear on the cartilage. Yoga can help you improve your posture and some of your misalignment, creating less pain in your body. Doing yoga can help to create space in the joint, so the bones can move more readily. It may surprise you to know that poor posture can affect many other areas of the body, including knee pain.
A key way yoga can help arthritis is by keeping people moving. I’ve been working 1:1 with a woman that is determined to do everything she can to avoid being put on heavy pain meds to control her arthritis. She has seen very noticeable improvement in her body with a regular yoga practice. Even though people with arthritis tend to avoid using sore joints because of the pain involved, evidence suggests that inactivity weakens muscles and further reduces movements in the joints, creating decreased range of motion. This can create a vicious cycle: pain leads to restricted movement; lack of movement causes the muscles to become weak and tight, leading to further misalignment of the joint surfaces and more pain. Most people who aren’t actively working to maintain flexibility in their muscles and other tissues, and range of motion in their joints, become more restricted in their movements as they age.
You see, movement distributes lubricating synovial fluid, which helps the joint surfaces to glide more easily across each other, reducing wear and tear damage. Joint movement also helps bring nutrients into cartilage, which lacks its own blood supply.
If you are experiencing osteoarthritis, I highly recommend you talk with your doctor to find out if there are reasons you shouldn’t do yoga, as well as movement patterns you need to avoid. Once you’ve been given the go ahead, I think you may find yoga to be something that can greatly improve how you move and enjoy your life.
Personally, I’ve seen doctors, and had a few MRI’s to verify where osteoarthritis resides in my body – one knee, my thumbs, one shoulder and my neck all from a really bad car accident in my early 20’s. Yoga has greatly helped me keep moving and doing almost everything I want to do. I don’t take any pain medication and still do strength training, spinning classes, walking, golf and lots of yoga and stretching to keep my body healthy and active.
I love teaching 1:1 yoga and small group classes, along with my own practice. I love helping people feel and move better in their body. Let me know if you’d like to chat about how it might help you.
(Excerpts from the book, “Yoga as Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing”.)
Have a great, happy, healthy and intentional day!
*** Be Still and Know ***