Luise Wörle - Yoga as Therapeutic Exercise A Practical Guide for Manual Therapists

YOGA as Therapeutic Exercise

A Practical Guide for Manual Therapists

Luise Wrle, BSc(Hons) Osteopathy MA

Yoga Teacher and Teacher Trainer, long-standing student of Yogcrya B.K.S. Iyengar, Munich, Germany

Erik Pfeiff, DiplPsych

Clinical Psychologist and Psychotherapist, Manual Therapist

Advanced Aikido Teacher, Munich, Germany

Churchill Livingstone

Front matter

YOGA as Therapeutic Exercise

For Elsevier

Commissioning Editor: Claire Wilson

Development Editor: Sheila Black

Project Manager: Jagannathan Varadarajan

Senior Designer: Stewart Larking

Illustration Manager: Gillian Richards

Illustrator: Graeme Chambers

Copyright

2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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ISBN 978-0-7020-3383-4

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Notices

Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment may become necessary.

Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.

With respect to any drug or pharmaceutical products identified, readers are advised to check the most current information provided (i) on procedures featured or (ii) by the manufacturer of each product to be administered, to verify the recommended dose or formula, the method and duration of administration, and contraindications. It is the responsibility of practitioners, relying on their own experience and knowledge of their patients, to make diagnoses, to determine dosages and the best treatment for each individual patient, and to take all appropriate safety precautions.

To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.

Printed in China

Forewords

The majority of people live on their emotions. This leads to disturbance of their body hormones, as well as to economic and mental stress, all of which create imbalance in physico-physiological, physio-psychological and psycho-neurological systems.

In yogic science, the sanas and prymas are particularly helpful in generating and distributing life-saving energy wherever and whenever it is needed, so that each cell in the body revibrates with sound health, satisfaction, contentment, and a composed state of attention and awareness in the brain and mind.

Luise Wrle and Erik Pfeiffs work, Yoga as Therapeutic Exercise A Guide for Manual Therapists, may serve as a handbook to help suffering humanity to achieve better health and a better way of living.

Luise has undergone training at my Institute in Pune, India, on remedial classes and has undertaken this work in presenting the curative aspects of yoga for developing a sound, healthy immune system.

Yoga is a powerful preventive system. It has the power to eradicate psychosomatic or somatopsychic diseases completely. In cases where a complete cure is not possible, this method develops that enduring power and keeps the disease in check.

Luise Wrle and Erik Pfeiff have covered the subject well and I am sure that this manual will add further knowledge to increase understanding of the subject as a healing art and science.

B.K.S. Iyengar

Luise Wrle is a yoga teacher of considerable experience, who became interested in Osteopathy after translating for me at many conferences. She qualified as an osteopath in 2005.

Erik Pfeiff is a manual therapist and psychotherapist; dedicated to his own yoga practice, he has also contributed many of the basic ideas in this book.

Throughout three decades of cooperation, Luise and Erik have taught many patients to practice yoga and have observed the benefits of this for greater treatment success. They have also taught patients how to develop mindfulness and the sensitivity to adjust their individual practice to their capacity and conditions.

This book links the manual therapists diagnostic tools to a wide variety of basic exercises and guides the reader, in small steps, into a more complex task and a deeper understanding of the practice.

The authors understanding of the theory of osteopathy and their knowledge of yoga has proved extremely useful to their teaching. The tests and diagnoses help design and programme the work the patient needs to do to achieve a good result. Patients quickly become and remain motivated, as the results soon become apparent. The use of breathing, which is a special part of yoga, has been a major part of this work, as have modifications of the basic exercises.Why should patients exercise at all? This book illustrates what can be done with exercises designed for individual patients. Supervision of exercise to ensure accuracy is emphasised. Most patients will feel the benefit of the exercises and a sense of achievement, knowing that it is their work and cooperation that gets results.