Yogic Therapy for Sports
Injury Rehabilitation
Dr. Kishore Mukhopadhyay
Associate Professor
Union Christian training College
West Bengal, INDIA.
AGENDA :
• What is Yoga ?
• Sports Injuries and Rehabilitation
• Rehabilitation through Yoga
Concept of Yoga
• Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual practice that
originated in ancient India.
• The word yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj,
meaning “to yoke,” or “to unite”. The practice aims to
create union between body, mind and spirit, as well as
between
the
individual
self
and
universal
consciousness.
• Modern yoga is most commonly associated with the
physical practice of asana, a series of postures often
weaved together in styles such as Vinyasa Flow or
Ashtanga. Asana practice is generally intended to
build strength and stamina, to improve flexibility,
coordination and balance, and to relax the body.
However, this provides only one small aspect of the
tradition of yoga as a whole.
LIMBS OF YOGA
1.Yamas - Five universal, ethical and moral
observances to live by (nonviolence, truthfulness,
non-stealing, continence and non-covetousness)
2.Niyamas - Five spiritual and self-discipline
observances (cleanliness, contentment, spiritual
austerities, study of scriptures and surrender to
God)
3.Asana - physical posture, originally intended only
for seated meditation, but more recently adapted to
encompass all physical yoga practices
4.Pranayama - breathing exercises to control the
flow of prana (vital life force)
5.Pratyahara - Withdrawal of the senses
6.Dharana - Single pointed concentration
7.Dhyana - Meditation
8.Samadhi - Liberation or blissful union with the
Divine
SPORTS INJURIES
• A sports injury can be defined as a pathologic process that
interrupts training or competition and may lead the athlete to
seek medical treatment. Sports injuries are injuries that occur
when engaging in sports or exercise. Soft tissues like muscles,
ligaments, tendons, fascia, and bursae may or hard tissue like
bone, cartilage and joint be affected.
SPORTS INJURY AND MEDICAL DIAGNOSIS
ICD
Sports trauma & illness
Body function & structure
ICF
Environmental Factor
ICF
Activities
ICF
Sports incapacity & sickness
Participation
ICF
Personal Factor
ICF
REHABILITATION
• Rehabilitation is defined as “a set of interventions designed to
optimize functioning and reduce disability in individuals with
health conditions in interaction with their environment”- WHO
The Broader Meaning of Rehabilitation
• Rehabilitation is the process of bringing a person back to their normal state of
health. It is the process of ensuring that an individual who has in the past shown
wrong behavioral pattern is helped to the point of becoming a better person. The
end result of what is rehabilitation is productivity, happiness and contentment.
• It can be used when a sports person has been injured and cannot perform perfectly
in the field. Such a person needs to go through the healing process of the physical
injury and the emotional healing caused by some of the losses associated with such
occurrences.
Stages Of Injury Rehabilitation
Phase 1. Protection and Offloading : Firstly, it protects
the affected area from experiencing any more
damage. Secondly, it also promotes an internal
environment to support healing.
Phase 2. Protected Reloading and Reconditioning :
Following the initial phase of management, subacute
management should be commenced. Put simply, some
strain is applied to the affected area or injury.
Phase 3. Sport Specific Strength, Conditioning and
Skills: You are tolerating simple loading , failure to
address deficits in higher-level capacities can result in
marked increases in the risk of reinjury.
Phase 4. Return to Sport : If an athlete has been both
physically and mentally prepared, then this should be a
smooth process..
Phase 5. Injury Prevention
The final and often overlooked phase of management is
the prevention of reinjury. Injury prevention at its core
the process of identifying and managing risk factors
with athletes during and following return to play.
REVIEW REPORT
Study
Reference
Sport
Key focus
Type of
intervention
Yoga intervention
Brukner et
al. 2012
Football
Rehabilitation for Grade
2 Femoris
musculotendinous
junction strain
Yoga as part of 7
point
rehabilitation
program
12 weeks 60
minutes per
session, twice per
week
McLean,
2009
Base Ball
Flexibility and injury
incidence
Yoga as sport
conditioning
12 weeks 45
minutes per
session, twice per
week
Brunelle et
al. 2015
Skating
Postural skills in speed
skating
Yoga as motor
time-on-task
36 yoga session
during 8 weeks
Polsgrove et
al. 2016
Soccer and
basket ball
Flexibility and balance in Yoga with regular
college athletes
athlete training
Garfinkel et
al. (1998)
low back pain
Yoga therapy
Schleip et al.
(2011)
shoulder and hip flexion,
hip extension and
abduction range of
motion
Therapeutic yoga
10 weeks 2 times a
week (intensity not
specified)
12 week yoga
practice
COMPONENTS
In general, yoga lengthens muscle tissue, strengthens muscle through applying healthy
stress in various shapes, and enhances range of motion of the skeleton.
Components :
• Breathing Exercises (Prayanama): The therapist will guide the person in therapy
through a series of breathing exercises ranging from energizing breaths to balancing
breaths.
• Physical Postures (Asana): The therapist will teach the person in treatment
appropriate yoga poses that address problem areas. For example, the “Legs Up the
Wall” pose is used to treat things like anxiety and insomnia. In this pose, the person
lays on his or her back with legs positioned up against the wall.
• Meditation: Relaxation and mindfulness are the focus of meditation when it is
combined with yoga poses.
• Guided Imagery: The yoga therapist attempts to calm the body and mind by
providing a guided visualization intended to bring inner peace.
• Homework: An important element for any yoga practice is to find a way to
incorporate it into daily life. Yoga therapists provide instructions on how to use what
has been learned in treatment at home.
Rehabilitation types and Steps
• Physical Rehabilitation
• Psychological rehabilitation
• Social Rehabilitation
STEPS
• Age and Sex
• Selection of degree of severity of injury
• Stages of rehab programme
• Selection of asanas : Proper Exercise (Asanas) Proper exercise is
necessary to keep the body healthy, strong and flexible. ...
• Proper Breathing (Pranayama) ...
• Proper Relaxation (Savasana) ...
• Proper Diet and Nutrition. ...
• Positive Thinking and Meditation.
• Dose
• Timely follow up
Ryan Giggs : A footballer of Manchester United player who appeared 700
times said that yoga helped to ,maintain his career for past 5 years.
Andy Murray : British number one tennis player practiced yoga for
improving flexibility.
David Duval : A world class golfer said practicing yoga gave him greater
range of motion in hip and shoulder joints which generates extra power and
distance.
Conclusions :
• Re-establish foundational levels of strength and mobility to ensure pain-free
day-to-day movement.
• Address the root causes of back pain, knee pain, and shoulder pain /
discomfort by strengthening and improving mobility of tight, inactive
muscles.
 Create the habit of moving more : Moving is how the body heals itself; not
by waiting to recover.
 Establish a solid foundational level of functional fitness that prepares you
for more intense or more difficult exercise
 Yoga therapy is helpful along with traditional method of exercise therapy.
 To minimise the duration of rehabilitation period yoga therapy is very much
helpful.
 Any body can able to perform therapeutic yoga regardless of age barriers.
REFERENCES :
Brukner, P., Nealon, A., Morgan, C., Burgess, D., & Dunn, A. (2012). Recurrent hamstring muscle injury:
applying the limited evidence in the professional football setting with a seven-point programme. Br J
Sports Med 2014;48:929-938 doi:10.1136/bjsports-2012-091400.
McLean, J. B. (2009). Effects of Yoga on Physical Characteristics on NCAA Division I Baseball Athletes.
Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations. Paper 242.
Brunelle, J. F., Blais-Coutu, S., Gouadec, K., Bédard, E., & Fait, P. (2015). Influences of a yoga
intervention on the postural skills of the Italian short track speed skating team. Open Access J Sports
Med. 2015; 6: 23–35.
Polsgrove, M. J., Brandon, M., Eggleston, & Lockyer, R. L. (2016). Impact of 10-weeks yoga practice on
flexibility and balance in college athletes. Int J Yoga 2016,9:27-34.
Garfinkel, M. S., Singhal, A., Katz, W. A., Allan, D. A ., Reshetar, R., & Schumacher, R. H. (1998). YogaBased Intervention for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. JAMA. 1998;280(18):1601-1603.
Ravi Sunitha, 2016, The application and effectiveness of yoga in prevention and rehabilitation of sport
injuries in athletes participating in competitive sport, LASE Journal of Sport Science 2016 Vol 7, No. 1,
Pages 42-57.
Timpka et.al, 2014, What is a Sports Injury? Sports Med (2014) 44:423–42.
Hedger
Michael ,
5
Stages
Of
Injury
Rehabilitation,
5 Stages Of Injury Rehabilitation | Orthopaedic Rehabilitation | Sport (ffphysio.com)
Classification
of
Yoga
Asana,
December 30, 2021,
Classification of Yoga Asana,– update4u (updated4u.com)
Classification of Yoga Asana Yogic Practices: Practice of Hand Joints, Hand Clenching, Wrist BendingFlexiPrep,
Kishore.km2007@gmail.com