Hatha-based yoga can help to alleviate pain, increase mobility and improve overall health in older adults suffering from osteoarthritis.

Goal: The goal is to help my client implement a beginner Hatha yoga practice in order to reduce hip pain, increase hip mobility and improve overall wellness.

The metric used will be a pre- and post- questionnaire measuring perceived pain, perceived mobility and perceived wellness before and after 4-week intervention.

Gender: Female


Age: 50y


Health Conditions: Hip OA x 4 years, Hypoactive thyroid, Elevated BP


Brief History: My client is a 50y old female with moderate hip OA and suffers from significant pain in the area especially when seated for a long time. She reports having a background in yoga but has not had a dedicated practice for many years and is hoping that implementing a practice geared towards increased hip mobility will alleviate some of her symptoms.

I envisioned working with this client once weekly for an hour over the course of 4 weeks. Each session would start with a verbal check-in to see how she is feeling, what her perceived pain is in the hips as well as any other areas she may be feeling pain and her general overall feelings about her wellness. We would then begin the session with a centering and move into Hatha yoga postures to specifically target her hip OA. We would then have a brief meditation after the Hatha portion of the session to allow some time for reflection. The session would end with various "homework" she would do during the week to maintain progress for the next session.

Hatha yoga was the main branch of yoga used and it supported the goal and key teaching as targeted asanas can aid in relieving pain and increasing mobility in adults suffering from moderate arthritis. (see below). Raja yoga is also used (but is not the main branch used) in our meditation work at the end of each session as a way to quiet the mind and allow space to reflect on the how the movement practice can help her to feel better and reduce her pain and overall sense of wellness.

Moonaz SH, Bingham CO 3rd, Wissow L, Bartlett SJ. Yoga in Sedentary Adults with Arthritis: Effects of a Randomized Controlled Pragmatic Trial. J Rheumatol. 2015 Jul;42(7):1194-202. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.141129. Epub 2015 Apr 1.

My sessions with this client were very productive and she was a very eager learner and took to the postures well. She was very engaged in our work together and seemed committed to continuing these practices on her own after our sessions were completed.

I suggested to my client to continue with the poses that we learned and also referred her to Dr. Steffany Moonaz' website for additional classes that she can take online. I encouraged my client to look into gentle yoga classes in her area as well, if that was of interest to her. I recommended several books to her about how yoga can help heal and she was very interested.

Yes, I did apply my intended plan when I met with my client. I do believe my goal was achieved with her and I do believe she will continue to incorporate yoga into her life as a means to reduce her hip pain that she has from OA.

The only things that needed adaptation in my plan was working through some of the different asanas we tried. Various props were used including a chair, wall, straps and blocks and some postures required some trial and error to see what worked best. Lessons learned included learning different modifications for poses using all the above props.

Yes, if I had a similar client, I would approach it the same way. I felt that the poses we used were effective in helping my client and reducing the pain she feels in her hip due to the OA as well as increasing her mobility.