Shoulder Injury

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Laura Hahn
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:57 pm
Location: Stanwood, WA

Shoulder Injury

Post by Laura Hahn »

Hi Bernie,

The other night in a Yin Yoga class I was leading (on Zoom) I asked one of the students if there was a particular area of the body he would like to attend to this evening. He brought his hand to the front of his left shoulder, and said the front of his shoulder was weak and that he would like to strengthen the area around his left scapula. I asked if he had injured his left shoulder and he said yes, he was dealing with a recent injury.
The first thought that ran through my head, was "Probably best to not hold any pose that is going to put stress on his left shoulder".
What I actually said was "That it is probably best, due to the injury, to not put any stress on the tissues of your left shoulder at this time, and perhaps some gentle opening in this area would be good and to pay close attention to not create any pain or stress to this area in tonight's class."

My questions for you are:
1) "How would you of responded to his request of "liking to strengthen the area around his left scapula?"
2) Is it best to instruct a student that has an injury to avoid the area of the injury while practicing Yin Yoga?"

I have been instructing Yin Yoga since 2009, and am a graduate of Paul Grilley's Basic Yin Yoga training. I am currently taking "Your Spine, Your Yoga: The Course" on-line. I study the writings of Sarah Powers, as well. I am grateful for all of your teachings, and for this Yin Forum.

Thank you for your time and service to the Yin practice.

Warmest of regards,
Laura Hahn
Bernie
Posts: 1292
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Re: Shoulder Injury

Post by Bernie »

Hi Laura

1) For a student who wants to strengthen an area, I would suggest some yang exercises. Yin yoga does not target the muscles for strengthening. However for this particular students, I would need to know more about what he means by strengthening and what he means by shoulders. Was he referring to his anterior deltoids or pectorals? When he touched his scapula was he referring to its movements, or its muscles like the trapezius, rhomboids, rotator cuff muscles, or ???

2) Regardless of the above, I would have first started with the disclaimer that I am not a therapist or a doctor. If he has an injury, has he seen someone about his injury? Until you know what is causing the problem, it is problematic to prescribe any therapy yin or yang. Be careful not to fall into the urge to play Doctor Yogi. Even if you are a trained therapist, a yoga class over Zoom or in person is not the place to treat a client. You would need to sit down with him and go over his situation in detail. You don’t have the luxury of doing that in a yoga class.

Having said all that, I don’t agree with your instinct that — if an area is injured, best to leave it alone. Yes, you have to take care of an injured area, but no stress at all to an injured will delay healing. Not stressing any area of the body will lead to fragility and atrophy. All tissues need some stress. However, injured tissues can only tolerate a reduced amount of stress.

My comments to the student probably would have been along the lines of
  • Have you seen a doctor or therapist about this? If so, what did they say? If not, why not?

    Given you haven’t received any therapeutic advice, for now I suggest you take it easy on the injured area. It can be healthy to apply a little bit of stress there, but for you, for today, don’t go to your ultimate edge, and only hold the poses for 1~2 minutes.

    Keep checking in on how you are feeling. If you sense this is not helpful, come out right away. Notice after you have come out of the pose, and even tomorrow, how you feel. Take note so that you can gradually work towards getting back to normal, but don’t go too far, too fast.

    If this continues to be a problem, get it checked out!
Then I would have offered postures that took the arm and shoulders gently through all their directions. While the rest of the class may have stayed for 3~5 minutes, I would remind this student when 2 minutes were “up” and ask him to come out of the pose and notice the effects.

Cheers
Bernie
Laura Hahn
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Mar 28, 2012 2:57 pm
Location: Stanwood, WA

Re: Shoulder Injury

Post by Laura Hahn »

Thank you Bernie, as always, your reply was very helpful.
Laura Hahn
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