It took me 7 months of this pain until I was able to self-diagnose. It was on and off again despite teaching 7 days a week (some vinyasa [hot], some beginner hatha, and 1 gentle yoga) because duh me, felt like I needed to STRETCH, like you said! I now know how this happened. I was sick in February w/ a torrential cough constantly bracing myself for the sneezes or the coughs. So that when I was *mostly* cough free after my week off, I went back to teaching and really going for it if you know what I mean. Alas, at the tail end of teaching one of my 1st classes back (and 30 minutes before my other class), I got into such a coughing jag, I couldn't brace ANYTHING, cancelled my next class, and I suspect is when it happened. This is the ONLY video that I suspect will allow me to help myself & I have so much gratitude.
Just found you, I wonder why your channel has not ten times as much followers ? Your teaching style and your background wisdom blows my mind (fascia 😸)
Hi Denice! Found your video yesterday. Have had discomfort for weeks and nothing I did would help. Finally, I did some research and was able to figure out what was going on. Costochondritis! I might have had slight cases of it before, but it quickly resolved. I tried out some of the suggestions offered by physical therapists. Some were helpful, while others caused even more discomfort. In this video, you gave a very clear explanation of the condition and some really great suggestions on how to fix myself. I tried out the crunches and planks as suggested. This morning I was significantly better! Moving forward, I’m going to continue implementing these movements, along with bracing (of course!). Deep gratitude from a flexible yoga teacher! 🙏
Wow Dina, your students have obviously benefited so much from your teaching and of course you too, from teaching them 🥰 Activated Asana is just such a unique approach and methodology to find in a yoga class, it can only be beneficial to all concerned and we are still able to create such holistic, rounded classes, only enriched so much by AA 🤗
This is excellent information for every yoga instructor. Your presentation is brilliant, understandable and useful. I am thankful that I found this video and thank you for sharing your knowledge.
All yoga poses needed to be modified 100% of the time. When you destabilize a joint (ligaments and tendons) they never recover the optimal tightness. Big problem with a flexibility is you rarely can stretch or open a muscle without the involvement of tendons and ligaments. Yoga and flexibility training should revolve around the optimal range of motion of a given joint. Hyper mobility will create joint dysfunction over time.
Thank you very much for this information. Understanding the differences between the Tonic and Phasic muscles takes my knowledge to a whole new level. I really appreciate how you teach; it is clear and precise. I can now make my senior patients understand why they feel the way they do... They just need to move more!!!!
This is great information! Having taken the Movement Template gave me the basis and I still got a few "light bulb" moments today. Thank you so much for your hard work. I look forward to June 15th. Thank you. Rashida
Your teaching in this video is very clear and makes sense, just like all the videos and other content within your Activated Asana Apprenticeship Academy. I've put teaching yoga on hold until I finish with massage school, but I must say, your content helps me in my anatomy/physiology/kinesiology courses as well! Thanks for all you do
This was completely new information for me and was totally fascinating! So grateful for your clear teaching and depth! Grateful to be part of your Academy and I can only recommend it to others who want a deeper understanding of anatomy, physiology and movement science and then share this knowledge with their students.
I got SI joint pain from too many passive forward bends in yin yoga - especially pashimottanasana and butterfly. Cured it through strength training and activating.
I have a few students who struggle with SI Joint instability. They continue to stretch and then LOAD! the tissues. I will continue to teach them ways to activate. They are so simple yet so profound. Thank you for your wisdom. Yoga teachers need to learn simple activations to turn this common injury around.
Thanks for the video. I would just like to say, I've been treating pain as a neuromuscular therapist for 10 years, and I have never met someone that feels pain in the SI joint that actually has any issue whatsoever with the actual joint. Most SI joint pain is referred from trigger points in the quadratus lumborum muscle and gluteus medius. The woman having SI joint pain sleeping with her legs horizontally abducted is keeping her glute medius in a very shortened position for a very long time, and this will cause the glute medius trigger point fibers to refer pain to the SI joint area. This issue is easily resolved by addressing the trigger point fibers in the glute medius. I've treated this successfully maybe 50 times, often in a single 60 minute session. In peace and good health, Doug.
So interesting! I'm also a manual therapist. It's been my own experience, and education, that trigger points and spasm occur in postural / tonic muscles such as the erector spinae, QLs or piriformis, not the glutes. And, phasic muscles such the glutes are prone to getting weak and inhibited, leading to over recruitment of the tonic muscles. That leads me to think it's more likely that trigger points in the piriformis, or possible ES or QLs could be referring pain signals into the SI joint area, OR that the sleeping position is putting a strain on the connective tissues of the SI joint itself. The SI joint is part fibrous and part synovial, so it has the potential to get pulled apart, like the knee or the hip, especially when in a position for a long period of time, like hours of sleeping. Changing position helps, but the glutes need to be strengthened too, in order to restore balance or the issue will reoccur, even if you treat the trigger points.
@@activatedasana Thanks for your detailed response! I appreciate your time. Trigger points can occur in all skeletal muscle, and this has been strongly evidenced since the 1950s by Drs. Travell and Simons, as well as Jay Shah at the NIH and many others. Leon Chaitow (famed British osteopath and author) suggested that trigger points are not necessarily dysfunctional. They can serve an important function, stabilization. When the body perceives danger for a joint by excessive mobility (hypermobility) or perceived "injury", it will purposefully create trigger point fibers in muscle, because TrP fibers are an energy free way of stabilizing, no need for ATP to produce contraction. They are locked in contracture, so functions basically as a fake ligament. I think this is a really important insight from Chaitow and I have found this very helpful. This is why so many yoga teachers/practitioners have glute min/med trigger points. They are usually hypermobile (attracted to yoga because they are "good at it", stretchy) and are foot hyperpronators. Glutes need to be strengthened, but strengthening muscles with TrPs is difficult, that's why physical therapy fails so many people. If you release the TrP fibers, the glutes are immediately stronger because now more muscle fibers are able to contract on demand of the motor nerve signal. Add incremental strengthening with the TrP work and muscle function and strength can increase quickly. Janda's phasic/tonic classification is only helpful to a degree and in my opinion and experience, understanding muscle function and corrective exercise through trigger point therapy has shown tremendous results, even in severe cases of dysfunction like "frozen shoulder". Thanks again for the discussion. Om shanti, Doug.
Thank you so much. I’m luck to have done yoga teacher training with a lady who teaches from Thomas Hannah Somatics, as well as yoga. It is a much more informed body approach to yoga asanas. I’ll see you again on this journey. Thank for being a big voice out there.
This is amazing I normally stretch most mornings before I get out of bed which I think my neck and side stretch is just habbit I'm now going to listen to my body more to understand why am I tight So that I'm understanding you correctly are you suggesting more flowing movements or strength training or a mixture of both ?
Hi! What you are doing when you wake up in bed is probably "pandiculating". The typical yawn and stretch we see most other animals do. Pandiculation is very good for the body but very different from passive static stretching that most people think of when they talk about stretching. That type of stretching where muscles are supposed to relax and you take the joint to its end range and hold it for 30 seconds to 5-10 minutes. So I encourage you to keep doing your Pandiculations in the morning as you wake up! 😊
I really like the Activated Asana approach, it's added so much depth to my personal practice and my teaching ability. My students love organisation and activation and the challenges the methodology opens up for them. It's safe and inclusive, evidence based and designed to support life long activity.
After 40 + years of Yoga and numerous styles of exercise, I stopped teaching due to numerous joint issues. This program has given me back my confidence to take a class with the latest information. I stay out of pain more than not. Highly recommend as she gives lot's of the latest ways of staying safe.
This is such important information that needs to be heard by all yoga teachers and practitioners! Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge in this way. I can only recommend the Academy to others who want to deepen their understanding of using the body in yoga safely, building upon stability, strength and mobility. I have never learned so much in a program before! Thank you, Denise!
This should have A LOT more likes! Such a good sequnce. I'm adding most of this to my morning routine. I like the WAY you do some of these. And your instruction is very clear, easy to follow and understand. Thx!
Amazing! Ive never seen these combinations, let alone done it. This definitely made me feel all the tiniest muscles around my knee , glutes, hamstring, and all the other muscles i cannot name. Thank you Denis!
