Yin Sequence for Brain Injury

Please use this forum to ask any questions you may have about yoga in general or Yin Yoga in particular, or to discuss anything you have discovered that may be of general interest. Note, spam will be removed and the user deleted, and this includes putting website in your posting that are purely commercial.
Post Reply
Kelli
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 5:30 am
Location: San Diego, CA

Yin Sequence for Brain Injury

Post by Kelli »

Hello Bernie and other Yin instructors,
I am a Yin Yoga instructor, and I have a student who recently suffered a brain injury due to a recent motorcycle crash. He has been doing yoga for 20 years, and is a very skilled practitioner. Last week, he asked me if there were any yin sequences that had a meridian focus on the brain. Can you provide a sequence or some poses that you think would be helpful?
Thanks so much.
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Yin for the brain?

Post by Bernie »

Great question: what Yin Yoga practice helps the brain? Well, before I answer that, first a huge caveat. Someone with a significant brain injury should not be taking medical advice from yoga teachers! Make sure his doctor knows what he wants to do and is okay with it.

From a meridian perspective the one that goes deeply into the brain is the Urinary Bladder. The poses that stress the Urinary Bladder are flexions of the spine such as Caterpillar, Butterfly, Snail as well as a few others. I would NOT recommend Snail as an inversion could put too much pressure into the brain: in fact any inversions may be contra-indicated now, unless the doctor says otherwise and the student's own experience shows that they are safe. For this reason I would also exclude Dangling. Stick with Butterfly, Half Butterfly and Caterpillar for now. Since these are flexions of the spine, the counterposes would be extensions but keep them easy too: Sphinx with the head supported may be all he needs: just hang out there for more time than normal to allow the full counterpose effect to develop.

For a more complete Meridian assessment your student should go see a qualified acupuncturist. She (he) can advise which Meridians really do need stimulation because, while the UB line does pass through the brain, healing involves the whole body. The Kidney meridians may also need stimulation to send their universal energy to the brain and all other organs. (Sphinx will help with stimulating the Kidneys.) Again, a yoga teacher is not the best one to give such unique and detailed advice.

I hope this helps.
Bernie
Kelli
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 5:30 am
Location: San Diego, CA

Thank you so much!

Post by Kelli »

This is perfect! I absolutely will not offer any medical advice, and there will be no inversions. I so appreciate your quick response and will be sharing this information with my student. :D
solasan
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:56 am
Location: UK

Post by solasan »

Regarding postures for brain injury, I wonder if by 'Dangling' you mean no hanging upside down? I ask because I have a very old (mild) brain injury, and for many years now have used a backswing to help with back pain. I wonder what people think, generally, about long-term use of such contraptions Inversions such as headstand and shoulderstand are contra-indicated due to neck injury (all part of the same accident!)
Bernie
Posts: 1293
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2006 2:25 am
Location: Vancouver

Inversions

Post by Bernie »

By "Dangling" I am referring to the Yin Yoga pose of that name. Hanging upside down however can be considered dangling as well, of course, but do pay attention to all the contraindications for such inversions. Anytime the head is below the heart, bad things could happen for people with several conditions, such as high blood pressure (inversions will make it worse), glaucoma or diabetes (inversions can increase the intraocular pressure too much), a bad cold, neck issues, sensations of light-headed, and a host of others that may be very individual for each student.

If you have suffered a neck injury, then all inversions should be avoided until you and your health care provider are convinced it is safe to do them. You can get almost as much benefit from simply doing the old viparita karani (legs up the wall pose) without the risks. If your goal is to increase potential blood flow to the brain and you have any of the above contraindicators, just do legs up the wall.

Cheers
Bernie
solasan
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 3:56 am
Location: UK

re dangling and head/brain/neck injury

Post by solasan »

Hi Bernie
many thanks for your reply to my query. I wasn't familiar with the yoga posture name 'dangling', but I expect it's a posture I know by some other name, I learnt all the sanskrit names when I originally trained 30+ yrs ago. The backswing was purchased on the advice of my osteopath for my back damage, so I guess he knew it was safe enough for my neck, I don't know. I've gradually learnt more about my injuries over the years. I think I may decide to give it up for a while and see how my back is doing, just lying with legs up the wall instead, just to be safe.
bless you! solasan
ps I'm guessing that you say dangling where we in the UK might say 'hanging'.....
Post Reply