How to Use Yoga Therapy for Sport's Injury Rehab

Yoga harnesses mental, physical and spiritual wholeness. Yoga poses should look natural. The poses should be completed with a calm face indicating a heightened state of meditation and awareness. Yoga also stretches and strengthens the muscles in the body, which can help heal sports injuries.

• Start with a basic stretching and breathing class, called relaxation yoga. Attempting to do advanced yoga too soon can inflame a sport's injury.


• Speak with the instructor about your sports injury before yoga class begins. Yoga instructors can offer tips on stretching and strengthening your injured body part without causing pain.


• Keep going to class. Complete two or three yoga classes a week until the injury has healed. Each yoga practice will make you stronger and more capable of holding difficult poses.


• Be gentle. If a stretch or pose hurts, stop doing it. Athletes tend to push themselves in yoga as if it were a competition. If your body is not ready for the stretch or pose, do not force it.


• Inform the doctor before you begin attending yoga practice. Make sure your injury is ready for rehabilitation. The doctor may recommend heating or icing your injury after the yoga class.


• Do not do too much at once. Many yoga poses have a beginner and advanced version. Start all poses at the beginner level until you are comfortable.


• Try heated yoga. Heated yoga is done in a room heated to 90 degrees or above. The heat allows the muscles to be more elastic, thus making stretching easier.


• Lie down. If your injury becomes too painful, lie down on your yoga mat with your arms by your side, leg straight and face toward the ceiling. Focus on taking deep, even breaths. This pose is known as Shavasana and helps relax the body after a yoga practice.