Yoga Therapy Training
30 Yoga Therapy Precautions: As Eye-catching Infographics
Your yoga class will have students with all sorts of pains, conditions, infections, problems and ailments. No matter how experienced you are as a yoga teacher, refreshing your knowledge of yoga therapy precautions is essential for creating safe and inclusive classes.
You can get the full set of these 30 yoga therapy precaution infographics as a bonus within my Yoga Therapy Lesson Plan Bundle. You can edit them. You can brand them. You can choose which size you want them in (A4, A5, and A6). And you can download them as JPGs, PNGs, or a PDF.
Arthritis
Stiff, non-inflamed joints benefit from yoga.
Hot, inflamed joints need rest.
Do not put weight on the joints if there is any pain.
Back Pain (Lumbago)
Take care with all back movements.
Chest Pain
Emphasise exhalation.
Breathing exercises may be beneficial.
Take care with strong chest openers (e.g. Bridge Pose).
Cold & Flu
No Yoga!
Contraceptive Coil
No abdominal lift (don’t suck your abdominal wall in and up).
Depression
Take care with some visualisations.
Focus on open-hearted postures such as Bridge, Cobra, and Upward Facing Dog.
Ear Infection
Don’t have your head lower than your heart in any asana
(e.g. Standing Forward Bend).
Epilepsy
No inversions.
Take care with balance poses.
Take care with breathing exercises.
Take care with candle gazing.
Eyes (detached retina, glaucoma)
No asanas with the head lower than the heart.
Hearing Problems
Take care with balance postures.
Ask students with poor hearing to put mats closer to you.
Heart Problems
No inversions.
No breath retention.
Take care with strong backbends with arms overhead.
Hiatus Hernia
No inversions (e.g Shoulderstand).
No abdominal lifts (don’t suck your abdominal wall in and up).
Take care with strong backbends.
Take care with forward folds.
Take care with twists.
High Blood Pressure
No inversions (e.g standing forward bend).
Take care with deep backbends.
No breath retention.
Hyper Flexibility
Take care with flexing too much.
Strengthening asanas are beneficial.
Hyperactive Thyroid
Take care with strong head-back poses (e.g. Camel pose).
Take care with Shoulderstand pose.
Knee Pain
Take care with kneeling (use padding).
Take care with Lunges.
ME
Take care with overexertion.
Menstruation
No inversions.
No abdominal lifts.
Migraine
Take care with candle gazing.
Neck Pain
No Shoulderstand, Plough pose or deep backbends.
Osteoporosis
Take care with putting too much weight on your wrists.
Yoga poses are usually beneficial for osteoporosis.
Panic Attacks
Take care with breathing exercises.
Take care with visualisations.
Post Operation
Yoga should not be practised for up to 6 months for some operations.
Pregnancy
No yoga until after 16 weeks.
No inversion or postures involving abdominal strain.
No lying on the abdomen when the bump shows.
No lying on the back for relaxation.
Prolapsed Disc & Sciatica
Take care with forward and side bends.
Take care with shoulder stands.
Benefit from backbends.
Sacroiliac Issues
Take care with asymmetrical backends (e.g. King Pigeon pose).
Sinus Infections
No head-down positions.
Take care with breathing exercises.
Stomach Ulcers
No strong stretches or contractions.
Varicose Veins
No sitting for extended periods on heels (e.g. Hero pose).
Vertigo
Take care with balance and backbend postures.
You can get the full set of these 30 artistic yoga therapy precaution cards as a bonus within my Yoga Therapy Lesson Plan Bundle. They are unbranded (my website URL has been taken out) and come in A4, A5, and A6 sizes. Download. Print. Enjoy.
How To Use The Yoga Therapy Infographics
Option 1
Observing Students
Before arriving at your class, open up your Yoga Teacher Folder and look through your student’s Yoga Questionnaire Forms and take a look at the Yoga Therapy Infographics to double-check the asanas the student(s) are advised to avoid.
OK, time for an example…
An hour before your class starts, you pick up your trusty Yoga Teacher Folder and flick through the Yoga Questionnaire Forms until you get to Jane Higgenbottom and see she has arthritis in both wrists.
You look at the Arthritis infographic and read this:
“Stiff, non-inflamed joints benefit from yoga. Hot, inflamed joints need rest. Do not put weight on the joints if there is any pain.”
When you’re walking around your class observing students and you see Jane Higgenbottom struggling with Downward Facing Dog, you remember that she has arthritis in her wrists.
So, you walk up to Jane and say something like:
“Jane, try this instead”.
And you show her how to perform Dolphin Pose which will take the pressure off her wrists.
Option 2
Print & Give To Students
Unless you teach bionic humans from Planet Bingabongbong, your class will be chock full of students with all sorts of pains, conditions, infections, problems and ailments.
Print out the “Yoga Therapy Infographics” and hand them the one that matters to them (e.g. give the Arthritis infographic to your student who has arthritis).
Pssst, students love receiving class handouts! So, if you like the idea of giving your students eye-catching yoga class handouts, there are 201 of them within the Online Yoga Lesson Planner.
Option 3
Study Your Students Every Few Months
Every month or two, it’s good practice to open up your Yoga Teacher Folder to flick through the Yoga Questionnaire Forms with your Yoga Therapy Infographics close by. When you come across a student with an ailment, look at the cheat sheet and hit the mental pause button.
Visualise that student (e.g. Jane Higgenbottom) in your class and see yourself going up to that student and saying something like:
“Are your wrists hot and inflamed or just stiff?”
The more you use visualisation (see, feel, touch and smell what is going on), the longer you’ll remember the information.
Allow the kid within you to come out and play when doing this visualisation exercise. If you do this visualisation for all your students something amazing will happen – more of your students will become lifelong students – it’s the best kind of yoga class marketing.
So, why do I think that “yoga therapy knowledge” the best kind of yoga class marketing?
If you take the time to know the ailments of each student and gave helpful advice before, during and after class those students will come back week after week, and year after year.
