By Susi Hately, B.Sc. Kinesiology, C-IAYT Yoga Therapist

Question: Someone does the small movements that you often teach in your therapy classes. How do they progress?

Susi’s response: My approach has arisen out of seeing that many people are unable to move into the classic yoga poses in a functional way (hence the cyclical pain patterns we often see). I would see that my students were unable to move into the pose functionally, so would break down the pose and see what the actual limiting factors were and then improve those. All of the small movements I offer are simply that – component pieces of larger movements.

So, to improve, all you need to do is add more components of the what makes up whatever activity you are wanting to get back to. Then, as you are able to do the movement more and more easily and/or be in it for a longer period of time, then more repetitions and/or more load (ie. weight) can be added.  Each of these will add more complexity. The key though, is that the person needs to continue to move with the awareness, and attention they gained in the smaller movements, with as little compensation as possible so that the joints and muscles involved are doing what they are supposed to be.

The bumper sticker:  Progress is very quick when you move specifically and thoughtfully.

Enjoy!

Susi