As our body ages (or moves less), joint stiffness or tightness becomes increasingly common. This can get in the way of our ability to move as we want, or do certain activities we’re used to.
However, deteriorating joint health is not a given. There are many ways to help keep the joints healthy, and yoga offers a plethora of wonderful approaches.
In this Wellness Yoga course with British yoga teacher Vicky Fox, learn how to use yoga techniques to enhance the health of your joints and reduce stiffness and tightness.
Have you ever heard the phrase “motion is lotion?” It refers to the fact that movement is one of the best ways to manage or decrease stiffness and enhance joint health.
Movement can help increase blood circulation and synovial fluid to the joints, providing nutrients and lubrication. The right kind of movement is one of the best ways to retain mobility and flexibility as we age. And luckily, you can get rid of early-stage joint stiffness as long as you know how to work with it.
This 7-session Wellness Yoga series will explore the various joints in the body and how yoga can support those joints to help alleviate pain. At the end of this series, you’ll have a toolkit of poses and joint-health practices to support a healthy daily routine.
Session 1 – How Yoga Can Help Your Joints: This class will look at how yoga can help us improve the mobility and function of the joints. We’ll build a yoga toolbox of poses that create fluidity in the body’s small joints. (Recording available)
Session 2 – Motion is Lotion – Mobilizing the Joints of the Upper Body: Starting small with the joints of the hands and working up the arms to the shoulders, we will add to our yoga movement toolbox and explore circular movements or circumduction of the joints. We will also explore how to create some “root” support in the neck and shoulders to help create space in hands and wrists, especially when adding more weight-bearing postures.
Session 3 – Strong Foundations, Standing Up for Yourself: This class looks at how to enhance the strength and flexibility of our foundation – our fabulous feet! Building on our yoga toolbox, we will explore ways to release, mobilize, and lubricate the small joints of the feet to reduce joint discomfort or pain. Learn how to build a strong foundation to enhance your ability to stand tall and feel empowered by increasing the strength and flexibility of your feet and ankles.
Session 4 – Stable Knees through Space and Strength: This class focuses on the knees and how the quadriceps muscles can pull on the knee unevenly, creating joint discomfort. How can we release tension in the muscles around the joint and start to build strength in a more even way? Learn how to work with the stronger muscles of the leg to create space in the joints, reducing wear and tear and subsequent discomfort.
Session 5 – Creating Stability in Larger Joints When Standing or Balancing: In this class, we explore the core’s role in reducing pressure at the joints and how moving more mindfully can help us minimize wear and tear on the joints. Learn how to stabilize the larger joints of the pelvis and stimulate the neurovascular bundles in the groins through movement to allow for better circulatory flow.
Session 6 – Finding Balance with Our Standing Postures: In this class, we combine what we have learned about healthy joint movement in the upper and lower body. Learn how to move through yoga poses and how to find a balance between maintaining space in the joints while also building the strength of the joint without pushing into extremes of our range of motion.
Session 7 – Summing It All Up: This final week looks at how we can put it all together to create simple daily practices that keep our joints mobile and discomfort-free. Learn what we can do to strengthen neural pathways or to develop new ones to make a habit that grows into our daily movements and practice.
This course qualifies for 8 CEs with Yoga Alliance.
