- Dear Bernie. May i have your help about my student who has hamstring tendonitis problem? Do they still can have Yin Yoga Class? Or is it too much for them? This guy already had the pain almost 1 month.
The other one is student with back pain, she said nerve clamp. Is she also allowed to join Yin Yoga class? considering quite many kind of 'back pain' and actually not always nerve clamp. Please help to enlighten me..
Thank you so much. Y.
Regarding your student: my first question would be “what does his/her doctor say?, Tendon pain can take a long time to heal, especially in the hamstrings. The problem is, it starts to heal, then we tear it again by doing forward folds: not just in yoga, but even at home bending over to pick something up. I had this once, and it took me a year to heal it because I kept hurting it while teaching yoga. Finally, I had to adopt a zero-tolerance policy to forward folding: none! Eventually it healed.
Today, I would not only avoid forward folds when my legs are almost straight or fully straight but I would also add earthing to help reduce the chronic inflammation. Your student can probably still do Yin Yoga, just avoid anything that stresses the hamstrings: no Caterpillar, no Straddle, no Half-butterfly (although regular Butterfly may be okay if he/she doesn't feel anything in the hamstrings.) Make sure there is no pain when he/she does abduction of the legs too.
Re your student with back pain: what is a “nerve clamp,? I have never heard that term. Again, what does her doctor say? Which movements cause her pain? Avoid those for sure.
Cheers
Bernie