Introduction to yoga in bed
Tracy Adshead is a yoga teacher specialising in yoga for seniors. She is passionate about bringing healing and healthy ageing to the community.
Years of teaching yoga has taught me that the smallest movements can be the most powerful for the body, helping to trigger the process of healing well. What I hear regularly is that the really challenging part for most people after a period of illness is getting started, finding the motivation to exercise and maintaining it.
Sometimes we get into such a slump that even the thought of making positive changes seems too much - you are not alone, we can all feel like this at times. Just remember that with some small steps, baby ones in fact, you can get started.
Here’s a baby-step – wriggle your fingers and toes for a few minutes every day. It may not sound like much but there are literally millions of nerve endings in your hands and feet, this will strengthen the mental pathways in the brain.
Make a plan
- When you are ready to consider some sort of exercise the best place to start is having a talk with your doctor. Depending on your illness there may be specific things to work on or avoid. Know the effects of your medications, for instance are you more likely to become dehydrated?
- Make a safe plan with your doctor’s help. If you make a couple of goals, write then down - you’ll be more likely to achieve them.
- Prepare mentally by visualising yourself doing some sort of physical activity that you used to do for a few minutes every day, recreate the sensations of walking the dog or going for a swim for example. Research shows that the daily practice of imagery has a significant effect on recovery times.
Starting with a slow low-impact activity like yoga is ideal. ‘Yoga in bed’ is practiced from reclining – think of it as your time to look after yourself healing and renewing. In this practice, coordination of breath and movement will stimulate the body’s circulation, metabolism and elimination processes, use of the breath causes the nervous system to trigger relaxation, releasing muscle tension. Remember to pay attention to any sort of pain - it is the body’s signal that you’ve gone too far.
Rest and recovery are as important to reintroducing exercise as the physical activity itself, whether you choose to do the first 5 minutes of the yoga practice or the whole thing - giving yourself a period of relaxation afterwards it’s very important, it’s when your body starts to renew and rebuild in response to the exercise. Regular practice, be it short or long, will help to build energy and the enthusiasm to do more.
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