Is yoga inappropriate for treating some types of pain?
Always check with your doctor before beginning yoga classes. If an injury is fresh, or if you’re having an especially painful flare-up, you may need to wait until your body has healed enough to benefit from yoga. And when you do begin taking classes, be sure to let the instructor know about your injury or condition, so she can let you know which poses to avoid and can modify others for you if necessary. How can I find a yoga practitioner? Yoga classes are offered at yoga studios, gyms, and health clubs, so it shouldn’t be hard to find an instructor in your area. Finding one who specializes in pain management, however, may be more of a challenge. Some styles of yoga have strict certification requirements, so for those disciplines, check with the corresponding association to find out if a local instructor is certified. For example, the Iyengar Yoga National Association has a list of certified practitioners available online at: http://www.iynaus.org/. — Benj Vardigan is a contributing ed
