Monday, November 15, 2010

Use Yoga Therapy For Sports Injury Rehab

Use Yoga Therapy for Sports Injury Rehab


The practice of yoga has exploded in popularity. Most often used as a way to relax and find inner peace, yoga can also be used as a therapy for sports injuries. Yoga therapy uses certain yoga techniques and adapts them to certain physical injuries. A trained yoga therapist can work with an injured patient and help relieve the pain caused by sports injuries. Learn how you can use yoga therapy to heal your injured body.


Instructions


1. Consult your doctor to make sure that the program is a smart choice for your injury before starting a yoga therapy program.


2. Find a local yoga therapist. You can do this by looking in your local telephone book or using a search engine to find a therapist near you.


3. Have an assessment at your first appointment. The therapist will get your health history and design a plan of action for how you will be treating your injury with the help of yoga. They will talk to you and see what you need help with. For instance, if you have muscle strains, they might suggest stretch therapy, which slowly stretches the muscles to help heal and strengthen. If you are going for hamstring injuries, they might have you do the downward dog pose which will stretch and strengthen the hamstrings.








4. Perform a mental workout as well. Once your body AND mind are centered and ready to perform yoga, you will be ready to start the healing process. One way to perform a mental workout is to meditate. You can do this by sitting on the ground cross-legged with your hands on your knees, palms up. Close your eyes and focus on breathing deeply in and out. Do this for about 5 minutes or until your body feels completely relaxed.


5. Choose to stop practicing yoga once your injury has healed. However, you may want to continue to practice yoga in order to increase your strength and flexibility to prevent further injury.

Tags: your injury, Injury Rehab, mental workout, practice yoga, sports injuries