Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Yoga for Arthritis

Arthritis, inflammation of joints, tops heart disease as a leading cause of work disability. It can restrict your day-to-day life when it makes your joints painful, stiff, and swollen. There are currently 171 forms of arthritis. They affect people from all walks of life. Regular practice of the yoga poses listed below for hips and the sacroiliac can reduce the discomforts caused by the arthritis in these parts of the body.  
Be gentle to your body as you move in and out of these various poses.

  • Centering in Mountain Pose
  • Standing warm-ups (leg lifts, arm swings, hip rotations, shoulder shrugs)
  • Tadasana with block
  • Adductor (away from body); Abductor (into midline) Exercises --- Begin in Mountain Pose
    • Weight on right leg; tighten thigh; point leg out; don’t stretch inner thigh; 3 times; other leg
    • Inner thigh - bring leg forward and cross; contraction in inner thigh; do this very gently and focus on breath
    • Stand on foot from wall - turn heel out and take leg out; press outer foot into wall (resistance); should feel stretch in inner thigh.
    • Right hip touches wall; left leg crosses over (can move away from wall).
    • Rotate right leg out - tree pose lift to foot or shin. (Rotate first and then lift; cross ankle over opposite shin. Don’t reach down and pull up leg with hand). Point toes down.
  • Standing lunge
  • Warrior II
  • Side angle stretch (hand at waist and look up; hand to block and stretch)
  • Triangle with block
  • Wide-legged forward bend (hand 12 inches forward); take hands to ankles
  • Pressure cooker standing ---strap around calves; hands at waist; bend forward; widen thighs; keep spine long; hold as long as you can; takes pressure off the inner edges of the hip sockets
  • Chair Pose and Chair Twist
  • Seated side stretch
  • Crossed-leg seated pose with knee resistance - sit on block; hands on knees with elbows out; push up with legs and down with hands; lift through your torso. Re-cross legs and repeat.
  • Seated cow’s face - legs only - with/without resistance (stretches abductors)
  • Janu Sirsasana with belt - stretches hamstrings; improves hip flexibility
  • Seated Forward bend with push/pull action - staff pose on block; bend left knee with shin vertical; place strap around right foot; lift chest and bend forward placing left arm over left shin pushing shin into arm; turn right thigh out and pull back on strap. Repeat on other leg.
  • Wall dog
  • Child’s pose
  • Windshield Wiper - arms overhead
  • Leg stretch with belt
    • Recline with one leg bent; lift straight leg and hold 8 seconds; repeat; then repeat with other leg
    • Knee to chest; other leg straight
  • Leg stretch on side
    • Bottom knee bent; lift top leg; points toes down; repeat 10 times
  • Cobra and Cobra with strap
  • Bridge
    • Modified - both knees bent & arms at sides, tighten butt and lift up (but not chest) and down; 
    • Full - elbows bent 90 degrees and fingers point up; inhale hands down; exhale hands up
  • Reclining Twist
  • Ankle to knee lotus prep at wall
  • Legs up Wall
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About Me

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Larkey is certified as a yoga instructor by the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, PA. She is also a certified Silver Sneakers Yoga Stretch instructor and has completed additional certifications in Yoga Therapy and Women's Yoga. She has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and has been teaching yoga since 2004. Larkey is a member of the Yoga Teachers Association of Pittsburgh and the Himalayan Institute Teachers Association. She recently taught yoga part-time at the Westminster Presbyterian Church (WROC) near South Hills Village. Larkey previously taught group yoga classes at the Himalayan Institute in Mt. Lebanon, PA, at the Bethel Park, PA Community Center, at the Southpointe Health Club and the Frank Sarris Library in Canonsburg, PA, at the Community College of Allegheny County, and at the Changing Seasons Center for Conscious Living and the Stephen Szabo Salon in McMurray, PA, as well as a number of private individual and group classes.