Yoga

[ombili]

This is really interesting to me! It's all new to me. I actually originally thought I had a sports related injury so I tried doing yoga, thinking that would help, and then after a couple of weeks I was walking around and was suddenly in some ofo the worst pain I'd ever felt! I stopped doing it and have now been told by my physical therapist never to do yoga.

That said, I am not entirely convinced that yoga would be a bad thing, given the right circumstances. As many people have said, the main problem is that often the class is huge and the instructors don't really understand your issues. The place I went to had these cheerleader types for instructors and they were constantly saying to "push the stretch more! Yeah! Wow, you're doing great! And after only two weeks?!?" Now I realize what was going on and why it wasn't good. But anyway, I did feel like the core strengthening was great for me, and someday I may try again (but not at the same place, obviously!)

[Tally]

Hi Msmay,
I too was warned off yoga by my physio as it tends to encourage already bendy limbs to stretch that little bit more.

Instead, I was referred for Pilates classes which were initially troublesome (resting my weight on my wrists was not great for example!) but I am now feeling the benefits. By concentrating on core strength, you become more aware of your posture which is so important with HMS.

Also, Pilates does incorporate some yoga techniques, just in a more productive way.

Tally

[tireesix]

What about Yogalates?????? Anyone have any ideea?

[sarahh]

It's yoga and pilates moves together I think I know you can buy DVD I have one but I think I would need to go to a class first to get start before I attempted it by myself.

Sarah x

[ombili]

Yeah, I find that it's really hard to do any of it without a mirror, as I tend to think I'm doing one thing but actually I'm not really doing that, if that makes any sense. So, unless I could get a wall sized mirror in my home I think I'd definitely start with a class. Do you think visitors to my house would be impressed if I had a mirrored wall?

[t4curtis]

doesnt it make you laugh though that no 2 physios seem to have the same advice??? mine told me to do yoga and i explained i thought it hurt more than help but i gave in recently when she explained that to strengthen a muscle you have to stretch it, yoga stretches the muscle and not the joint (if done properly) it is a great help for my core stability which has helped to stabalise my hips pelvis ribs and lower back but it hasnt helped with the jaw and fingers etc lol so i need something else for that i would recommend that anyone looking to take up some new type of excercise does it with an instructor who is willing to learn about your condition as you are unlikely to find one who already knows about it!! dont do it at home on your own if you can help it as already said we tend to have propreoception issues and this can seriously hurt our joints with things like yoga but to say again it has done me nothing but good so far.

[bikerchick]

i have recently started yoga, and i have found it works for me. luckily my teacher is very clued up on HMS as her husband is a sufferer, so she is great in telling me what to aviod and what can help. i find it sooo relaxing!

[flyingfairy]

I have been doing yoga for several years i love and and find it really helpful. My teacher leaves me to get on with it myself,i do things when i can and not always in the same way everybody else does it.

It was funny last week,my regular teacher was off so we had a stand in she was really impressed with me and said i was doing really well i told her it ws because i was sort of double jointed and to my shock she told me it wasn't called that itwas called hypermobile joints, i was in shock if i would have said that to anybody they would have gone what????

[lucienh]

Just a reminder -- there are different flavors of yoga out there. I've been doing yoga for over 30 years off and on. I started and kept at it because I was so good at it. I thought it was talent; now I realize it was the HMS all the time. I've tried several of the kinds of hatha yoga, and some of them are downright dangerous for us, because of the emphasis on stretching and bending at the expense of stability and muscle development. If you can find a good Iyengar teacher, you'll be in much better hands, because Iyengar emphasizes form and alignment as well as building a solid base.

[Enigma]

I have only ever tried hatha yoga and now value the wonderful teacher i had at the time. He was well aware of HMS and when i told him of my diagnosis exclaimed that it explained a lot about my ability level. He also took more time over watching me and encouraging both my posture and making sure i did not over extend but took things back a bit and focused on building strength rather than flexability.
Even now i can recall the entire class routine and his instructions and have always encouraged anyone to try it bearing in mind that with HMS you need to take care not to push yourself as far as you can go.

[Makeoohsothoughtful]

I went to my first yoga class today, its a hour long.
It was very painful to be honest.

[Rosie]

Hiya

Was your yoga teacher aware of your HMS? and did he/she understand the implications of it? Yoga can be good for us, for strngthening core muscles and improving balance etc, but like all exercises for us we need to be carefully supervised and given appropriate feedback. We have to be careful doing stretches as we can often stretch our joints rather than muscles. Please be careful, it can't be doing you much good if you found it really painful.

Rosie

[DeeNJai]

Hi
I will be starting Yoga in the New Year. The teacher seems ok we did a 1-2-1 session 1 December it went okay he asked a lot of questions about my health problems and said he would adapt them so that I dont hurt myself. I was a bit sire after the session but it wasnt that bad. I will also start doing the WII Fit in the New Year as I need to get this weight off. Since being on Gabapentin I have gained 15lbs in 8 weeks.
Dee

[MichelleAllen]

My rheumatologist advised that I continue with yoga when I was diagnosed, as it's beneficial for maintaining flexibility and strength ... maybe that was because I'd been doing it for several years though, and wasn't just thinking of starting up. I always find I feel better after a yoga session, and it definitely helps me sleep better is I do some light routines in the evenings.

I suppose everybody is different though, and I do make sure I'm aware of all my limbs and where they all are / what they're all doing to make sure I don't hyperextend

[PhoenixRising]

I am desperately missing yoga, I gave it up about a year ago when my fatigue got worse, and now I have a diagnosis of HMS and have been told not to do it. Sucks.

I'd say if you are going to try it, stick with Iyengar with a teacher who knows about your condition. Unfortunately I can't afford the Iyengar classes I used to go to and don't sare do yoga at home with no one to tell me if I am hyperextending etc.