Adaptive Yoga provides the ability to adapt, adjust the traditional yoga for the clients with physical limitation due to illness, disability, or injury reduce pain/tension and/or restore mobility. A yoga therapist can create the program for the clients to accommodate their unique needs.

The goal is to create program for my client to practice gentle asanas accommodating his limitations caused by his illness and reduce stress improve his postures and flexibilities. Also I want my client to be able to practice regularly by his own. This client is new to yoga practice so I will include centering and pranayama so that he can learn to how to control his mind when he is dealing with pain.

• The client selected is male in his late 60’s, • He has sciatica due to lumbar spinal stenosis for over 5 years. • He feels moderate pain in lower back, buttock and leg while he is walking • He has no experience of yoga, he exercises aqua walking • Through the practice, he would like to strengthen and maintain healthy spine/joints and reduce pain on lower body.

At the beginning of the first session, conduct intake to understand client’s current symptoms if any, to assess client’s mobility, and discuss client’s goal. Explain the overview of this sessions. Also explain the benefits of yoga and breathing practice since he is new to yoga. At the end of each session, I will discuss with him any question/concerns.
The intended plan will includes Centering, Warmup, Gentle Asana Practice, Deep Relaxation, Pranayama and closing.

Hatha: To help the client to increase strength and flexibility, learn how to breath on the mat and off the mat to reduce physical/mental tension.

I explained to the client, this program includes not only physical movement, but this program also includes pranayama breathing practice. My client has no knowledge of pranayama and meditation. After explaining the benefits and various practices he seemed interested and he said, “I would like to try”.

I suggested my client to practice daily at same time if possible. I created sadhana chart that listed each asana, pranayama and the client can enter length (mins) or how many sets he practiced.

My intended plan was applied, and the goals were met specifically reduced tension, and increased flexibility. After each practice, he felt that a heaviness around his waistline, as he expressed, “like wearing a wide belt”, was eliminated; he felt much lighter, and he noticed range of motion increased.
At 2nd session that was 2 weeks after from 1st one, my client said “Sadhana chart is helping me, I was able to practice regularly.” He liked supported child pose using blanket and a block to sit on, and sphinx pose.
After 3rd session he said, “I can feel stretch of my lower back by holing longer period of the time and mentally relaxed by supported child pose.”

I had to frequently remind my client to “work with breath” and “relax. I suggested to him saying “you can silently repeat RELAX when you inhale and RELEASE when you exhale”
In addition to practice on the mat, I provided some chair poses at 2nd session because he asked if there were any poses he could practice at work. He works as waiter; he sometimes feels pain at work as standing and walking long hours.
All sessions with my client were online it was not easy to see and feel how the client was feeling during asana, if he was relaxed or not, how he was breathing.

I would approach same manner to physical movement (adaptive yoga) to improve physical strength which my client said, “I enjoyed the practices”, but I also would like to add more mental practices to manage the mind when in pain, educating the individual on how to accept the situation.

• Research-Yoga-for-Sciatica.pdf
• sadhana-chart-adaptive.pdf