Yoga in Healthcare - Asana and Meditation for Chronic Pain
Yoga in Healthcare - Asana and Meditation for Chronic Pain
In 2016, an estimated 20% of American adults reported having chronic pain and 8% of American adults had high-impact chronic pain, according to the CDC.
As you advance in your yoga teacher training and career, you are likely to encounter clients with chronic pain and other diverse needs. To better understand and serve clients with chronic pain, it is wise to seek advanced yoga teacher training in therapeutic yoga courses.
Understanding Chronic Pain
Chronic pain is one of the most common reasons why patients see a doctor according to the CDC. Due to the ongoing nature of chronic pain, it is often difficult to treat. Chronic pain can be described as pain that extends beyond the expected period of healing. Chronic pain may originate in the body, brain or spinal cord. Physiologically, however, all pain is output from the brain.
Beyond the chronic pain itself, sufferers may experience stress, lack of sleep, anxiety, and depression. Risk factors for chronic pain include age, gender (female), socioeconomic status, occupational factors, history of abuse, and genetics.
Chronic pain is a serious condition and remains difficult for the medical community to treat with %100 effectiveness. Often, doctors will initially recommend non opioid medication or psychological treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy. As the pain progresses, students often seek behavioral changes - like a yoga or a meditation practice - to support their medical care and participate in their healing process.
Yoga Therapy – Asana and Meditation for Chronic Pain
In general, integrating a yoga practice into one’s wellness routine will support the body and mind as it works toward a peaceful and comfortable balance.
When dealing with chronic pain, yoga therapy uses a transformational approach, unlike the current medical model of a symptom management approach. For example, Advanced YTT in Healthcare will teach you how movement and meditation techniques of yoga can powerfully complement Western medical care. Training in evidence-based mindfulness meditations, Yoga Nidra, and breathing skills for behavioral medicine and chronic disease management allows yoga teachers to seamlessly integrate these methods into conventional treatment models.
The medical community acknowledges that mindfulness and meditation are integrative and complementary practices and are important parts of a larger healthcare plan. Courses like Yoga in Healthcare and Therapeutic Yoga Essentials examine the research and clinical evidence behind yoga and mindfulness techniques.
Advanced teacher training should also enlighten teachers on the applications of asana - the yoga poses - to potentially avoid future discomfort. You will learn to listen to your client and understand what type of Asana makes sense for their pain. Determine how to deconstruct the flow of the component parts and how to re-assemble it. Experiment with different positions, such as seated or upside down and gradually moving to weight bearing.
Pain is individual to each person, and each movement and mindfulness plan must be different as well.
“Pain Care” is a Health and Wellbeing Issue
The term “pain care” was used in “Yoga Science and Pain Care” to illustrate that pain is not a medical issue, but also a health and wellbeing issue. And as a yoga teacher with advanced training, you will learn how to be sensitive to your client’s needs.
Advanced yoga teacher training for health care will allow you to determine when to focus on the Niyamas to help clients that struggle with self-doubt. Or when to use guided imagery or Yoga Nidra for clients that must think and visualize movement before engaging due to physical pain or mental resistance.
When pursuing advanced yoga teacher training in health care, teachers will train in peer coaching techniques, like Motivational Interviewing, to overcome client resistance in promoting healthy choices in wellness practices. Motivational Interviewing requires empathetic guidance and will build trust that allows for clients to safely communicate with you.
Learn More About Integrating Yoga with Health Care at Prema Yoga Institute
Yoga teachers can be an important part of a client’s larger healthcare plan. Choosing to advance your skills with advanced yoga teacher training will expand your career and allow you to support more clients in need.
If you’re curious to learn more about integrating yoga with health care, reach out to us at Prema Yoga Institute. In fact, we’d love to invite you to enroll in our online courses. Our Advanced YTT has healthcare in mind, for example, our Yoga in Healthcare includes meditation and mindfulness teaching skills, that empower yoga teachers to interface more effectively with doctors and health care professionals.
Visit Prema Yoga Institute to learn more about our training, which is now available online with interactive trainings through 2022! Courses count as CE Credits with Yoga Alliance OR towards your RYT500 at Prema Yoga Institute.
PYI is an accredited program based in New York city, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!
Prema Yoga Institute is longer limited to New York City and is now available online with interactive trainings through 2022. PYI is an accredited program based in New York city, teaching students around the globe through online classes. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you advance your yoga practice and teaching!
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