Prema Yoga Institute 10/28/24 Prema Yoga Institute 10/28/24

Understanding the Progressive Overload Principle for Yoga Teachers

As a yoga teacher or therapist, have you ever found yourself repeating the same poses in class, week after week, without seeing much change in your students' progress? You follow the cues you learned in teacher training, adjust alignment, and even introduce props, but somehow, the students seem stuck. They've hit a plateau, and you may be left wondering how to help them move forward in their practice.

You’re not alone in feeling this way. Many yoga teachers encounter similar challenges.

If you’ve ever felt can use strength work within the asana, it’s time to introduce them—and yourself—to a key concept in building physical capacity: the Progressive Overload Principle.

What is Progressive Overload?

Progressive overload is a foundational principle in exercise science that explains how the body adapts and becomes stronger over time. Essentially, it means placing muscles under increasing demand, which causes them to adapt and grow stronger. This gradual increase in load, applied consistently over time, is what helps the body to improve its ability to endure stress.

When applied to yoga, this principle can be a game-changer for helping students progress in poses that challenge them. Rather than staying in a static routine, progressive overload invites you to continuously challenge the body’s limits—within safe and gradual boundaries. If taught with mindful breathing, the student can learn to meet challenges with equanimity.

Why are Your Students Struggling?

Before diving into how progressive overload works in yoga, let’s address a fundamental issue: why are your students struggling with certain poses?

Yoga asana practice demands strength, flexibility, and endurance in different muscles and joints. If your students aren’t progressing, it may not just be a matter of alignment or practice time. It could be that their bodies haven’t been given enough stimulus to grow stronger or more flexible. Without consistently increasing the challenge, their bodies adapt to the current load and plateau.

This is where the progressive overload principle can help yoga students move beyond their sticking points.

How Progressive Overload Can Help in Postural Yoga

The key to applying progressive overload in yoga is to gradually increase the demands placed on the body in terms of strength, flexibility, and endurance. In Prema Yoga’s Functional Anatomy course, we explore how this concept integrates with yoga practice.

There are two major ways to approach progressive overload:

Load Magnitude: By increasing the intensity of a pose or movement, such as lowering your arms closer to the ground in a wall-supported chaturanga, you're adding a greater load on the muscles.
Load Volume: By increasing the duration or number of repetitions of a pose, you are challenging the muscles’ endurance. For example, holding Warrior II longer each time or repeating it multiple times in a sequence can increase the load volume.

When it comes to intensity, two common ways to assess a student's capability for increasing load are:

1 Rep Max: The maximum amount of weight or resistance someone can manage for a single repetition.
Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE): A subjective measure of how hard someone feels they are working, usually on a scale of 6 (no effort) to 20 (maximum effort).

While these concepts are more common in strength training, they can be adapted to yoga. For instance, in a challenging pose like chaturanga, you can experiment with varying arm positions or modifying other elements of the pose.

Applying Progressive Overload in Asana

To help your students build strength and confidence, you can start applying progressive overload in specific poses.

Let’s look at chaturanga as an example. Here are three ways to increase the load gradually:

Lower the Arms on the Wall: Start by practicing chaturanga against a wall. Gradually lower the angle, so the arms bear more weight.
Raise the Arms Higher: By raising the arms on blocks or a bench, students can ease into the full chaturanga pose, reducing strain on the shoulders and wrists.
Bend the Elbows: For students who aren’t ready for a full chaturanga, having them bend their elbows only partway can help build strength in a controlled manner.

The goal is to encourage small, consistent changes that allow the body to adapt and grow stronger.

Moving Forward with Your Students

Applying the progressive overload principle can significantly enhance your teaching and help your students break through their plateaus. Rather than sticking to the same routine or getting discouraged when progress slows, this approach allows both you and your students to take incremental steps toward improvement.

Are you a yoga teacher or wellness practitioner looking to incorporate yoga and mindfulness into your practice? Are you interested in learning more about Functional Anatomy? Please check out our annual online Functional Anatomy Training - as well as our comprehensive yoga therapy certification at Prema Yoga Institute.

Please be advised that the content of this blog is not to be used as a substitution for the opinions and services of your licensed healthcare professional.

Prema Yoga Institute 9/30/24 Prema Yoga Institute 9/30/24

Matching Yoga-Based Strategies to Goals for Intervention

In yoga therapy, the mind-body connection plays a crucial role in addressing emotional challenges and promoting physical well-being. For clients who are dealing with trauma, anxiety, or emotional blockages, chair-based yoga asanas can be a gentle way to promote healing.

In this blog, we'll explore 11 common emotional and physical challenges that clients face as well as the specific chair-based yoga postures designed to address them.

#1 - Feeling Frozen, Rigid, or Holding On (Hoarding, Constipation)

Many people experience physical and emotional stagnation, feeling unable to let go of past experiences or physical tension.

Goal: Letting Go

Chair-Based Asana: Forward Fold

The forward fold can help release tension and promote relaxation. This is a symbolical and physical release of the things the client is holding onto. In a chair-based version, this posture gently stretches the back, promoting circulation and calm.

#2 - Anxiety, Tension, Panic

These emotions can make it difficult to focus or feel grounded. Yoga therapy can help reduce the body’s stress response.

Goal: Decreasing Hyperarousal

Chair-Based Asana: Neck Stretches, Ratio Breathing, Belly Breath

Neck stretches relieve tension from the neck and shoulders, common areas where anxiety is held. Ratio breathing and belly breathing activate the parasympathetic nervous system, helping to calm the body.

#3 - Defensiveness or Avoidance of Intimacy

Those who struggle with intimacy may feel the need to protect themselves, often leading to defensiveness.

Goal: Opening Boundaries

Chair-Based Asana: Sun Breath

Sun breath involves raising the arms overhead while inhaling, opening up the chest and inviting vulnerability. This posture encourages openness to connection while grounding the body.

#4 - Dissociation

Dissociation occurs when an individual feels disconnected from their body or surroundings, often in response to trauma. Although yoga therapists do not diagnose, we can help our clients manage mental states.

Goal: Grounding

Chair-Based Asana: Mountain Pose, Noticing Feet on the Floor

By practicing a seated version of Mountain Pose and focusing on the feet’s connection to the ground, clients can re-establish a sense of presence and awareness in their bodies.

#5 - Feeling Off-Balance or Conflicted

When emotions are in turmoil, the body often mirrors this imbalance. Restoring a sense of physical balance can help bring emotional clarity.

Goal: Centering

Chair-Based Asana: Seated Twists, Seated Triangle, Seated Eagle, Balanced Movements

These postures engage the core and focus on balance, which fosters both physical stability and emotional equilibrium.

#6 - Emotional Overwhelm and Vulnerability

Feeling emotionally overwhelmed or unprotected can make daily functioning difficult. Creating a sense of containment is essential.

Goal: Containment

Chair-Based Asana: Child’s Pose (Modified as Needed)

A modified Child's Pose performed in a chair helps the client retreat into themselves, promoting feelings of safety and protection.

#7 - Stuck, Unable to Make Decisions or Defend Self

Feeling stuck can manifest as an inability to take action, leading to frustration and helplessness.

Goal: Unfreezing and Reorganizing Active Defenses

Chair-Based Asana: Movement-Based Postures

Incorporating movement-based postures helps clients release pent-up energy, reorganize their defenses, and encourage decision-making and action.

#8 - Somatic Dissociation or Emotional Numbing

When the body feels disconnected, it becomes difficult to access or process emotions. A yoga practice can help folks ground in their senses with practice.

Goal: Bringing Awareness to the Body

Chair-Based Asana: Mindfulness Practice, Brushing Hygiene Practice

By introducing mindfulness and brushing practices, clients can slowly start reconnecting with their bodies, heightening awareness of sensations and emotions.

#9 - Reenactments or Revictimization

Survivors of trauma may unknowingly reenact past experiences, leading to cycles of revictimization. *As always, a yoga therapist should work in tandem with a client’s healthcare providers.

Goal: Creating Boundaries

Chair-Based Asana: Sensing Body, Creating Physical Boundaries

Incorporating practices that involve sensing and honoring the body’s space can help clients create healthier emotional and physical boundaries.

#10 - Feeling Helpless or Disempowered

Feelings of helplessness can create a disconnect from the core, leading to physical and emotional stagnation.

Goal: Empowerment (Feeling Core Power)

Chair-Based Asana: Lengthening Spine, Leg Lifts, Standing Postures

Engaging the core with spine-lengthening movements and leg lifts promotes feelings of strength and empowerment. These movements encourage the body to reconnect with its natural sense of power.

#11 - Emotional Numbness, Shutdown, Lethargy (Low Energy)

Low energy and emotional numbness often signal a state of hypoarousal, where the body shuts down in response to overwhelming stimuli.

Goal: Decreasing Hypoarousal

Chair-Based Asana: Activating Postures (Standing), Breathwork

Incorporating activating postures, such as standing and breathwork, stimulates energy flow and brings the body back into balance.

Conclusion

Yoga therapy, especially through chair-based practices, offers a powerful way to address emotional challenges while supporting physical well-being. These gentle, accessible asanas allow clients to work through complex emotions at their own pace, offering them the opportunity to reconnect with their bodies and empower their healing journey.

By integrating these practices into your yoga therapy sessions, you can offer a holistic approach to mental, emotional, and physical health, fostering resilience and inner strength.

Are you a yoga teacher or healthcare practitioner looking to incorporate yoga and mindfulness into your practice? Are you interested in learning more about Yoga in Healthcare? Please check out our annual Yoga in Healthcare Training - as well as our comprehensive yoga therapy certification at Prema Yoga Institute.

Please be advised that the content of this blog is not to be used as a substitution for the opinions and services of your licensed healthcare professional.

Prema Yoga Institute 9/25/24 Prema Yoga Institute 9/25/24

Yoga Therapy: The Motivational Traps of Motivational Interviewing

In yoga therapy, the bond between the therapist and the client is crucial. Effective communication is key to helping clients understand their healing potential and navigate through the healing process. But it's easy to fall into common communication traps that hinder progress.

This blog will highlight each of these traps and discuss strategies to avoid them, ensuring a more supportive and effective therapeutic environment.

#1 - The Question-Answer Trap

This trap happens when therapists ask too many closed-ended or leading questions, turning the client into a passive participant in their own healing. This situation can make clients feel like they’re being evaluated rather than supported, which can lead to disengagement.

Solution: Shift to Open-Ended Questions

Instead of relying on closed-ended questions, yoga therapists should ask open-ended questions that invite reflection. Therapists can use a questionnaire at the start of the session to gather essential information.

But, during sessions, they should focus on reflective listening, allowing clients to elaborate on their feelings and experiences. This approach fosters a sense of partnership, helping clients feel heard and valued.

#2 - The Confrontation-Denial Trap

When therapists confront clients right away with the realities of their issues, such as physical pain or emotional blocks, they may unconsciously create a Confrontation-Denial Trap. Clients may downplay their issues or resist suggested changes, making progress difficult.

Solution: Empathy and Self-Motivation

Instead of pushing a specific course of action, therapists should reflect empathetically and encourage self-motivating statements from clients. Allow clients to explore their uncertainties and issues with yoga naturally. This empowers them to make their own decisions, which can help promote a "win" mentality and minimizes resistance.

#3 - The Labeling Trap

Labels can carry stigmas and create power imbalances. Labeling can make clients feel trapped or judged, especially in a holistic setting like yoga therapy.

Solution: De-emphasize Labels

If a client brings up a label themselves, therapists can reframe it in a way that lessens its negative connotation. For instance, rather than focusing on a diagnosis like "chronic pain," shift the conversation to how yoga can help manage and alleviate discomfort.

#4 - The Premature Focus Trap

This trap happens when therapists focus too quickly on a single issue they think is the client’s problem. This can ignore the client’s immediate concerns, resulting in a disconnect.

Solution: Explore the Client’s Priorities

Before narrowing the therapeutic focus, yoga therapists should listen closely to their clients’ immediate concerns. This will help align the therapy with what the client feels is most pressing. By doing so, therapists can build trust and eventually guide them to other areas that may need attention.

#5 - The Blaming Trap

Clients can be highly sensitive to feeling blamed for their current state, especially when talking about deeply personal issues. Even subtle language or tone can trigger their feelings of guilt or defensiveness.

Solution: Practice Non-Blaming Communication

Therapists should avoid assigning blame and use non-judgmental language, instead. Reflecting back what clients share without judgment helps create a safe space for honest conversation. The goal is to help clients take responsibility for their healing in a positive, constructive way.

Conclusion

By understanding these common traps, yoga therapists can promote an environment of mutual respect, understanding, and empowerment. It is important to remember that effective communication is at the heart of yoga therapy. When clients feel heard and understood, they are far more likely to engage in the therapeutic process and achieve lasting transformation.

Please be advised that the content of this blog is not to be used as a substitution for the opinions and services of your licensed healthcare professional.